Dental Implant Malpractice

Common Implant Problems

Beyond nerve injury — covered on our implant nerve damage page— other issues that can point to a planning or placement error include:

• Sinus perforation: an upper implant placed without adequate imaging or bone-height assessment can perforate the sinus floor, leading to chronic sinus infection or the need for corrective surgery.
• Implant failure (failed osseointegration): the implant doesn't properly fuse with the jawbone. Some failure risk exists regardless of technique, but poor site preparation, infection introduced during placement, or excessive early loading of the implant can contribute.
• Peri-implantitis: infection and bone loss around an implant, which can result from inadequate hygiene instruction, an improperly seated restoration, or lack of follow-up monitoring.
• Malpositioned implants: an implant placed at the wrong angle or location can create a poor bite, make the restoration difficult to clean, or damage an adjacent tooth root.

Informed Consent Matters

Implant placement carries risks — including nerve injury, sinus involvement, and failure — that patients are generally entitled to be informed of before agreeing to treatment. Whether and how that consent process happened is often part of an implant malpractice evaluation.

If your main symptom is numbness rather than infection or failure, see implant nerve damage. For the broader question of whether your situation may support a claim, see can I sue my dentist.