How painful is the dental implant procedure?

 

 

Does getting a dental implant hurt?

 

When you hear about dental visits, your scalp tingles. If you are in this state, then it is safe to assume that you are not alone.

Seeing a dentist is just like seeing a doctor, facing the unknown, the asymmetry of information with the doctor, and emotional tension is inevitable.

And when it comes to dental implants, just thinking about it starts to scare you...making an opening in the gums, making a nail...the picture comes to mind, and you feel the pain.

You may not believe it when you say it...

Getting a tooth implant is not done in one sitting, but in multiple steps, of which the check-up type usually does not cause pain or discomfort, and the one that is most likely to be painful is the implant surgery step.

But! The real pain is much less than you think.

 

I slept in and my tooth was implanted?

 

Anesthesia for implant surgery is usually local anesthesia, but in the case of multiple implants, or if you're nervous that your blood pressure is spiking, comfort treatments can also be used, including implants under sedation with the cooperation of an anesthesiologist. By the time the local anesthesia kicks in, you'll only have sensation, not pain. Instead, the sensations that may occur include numbness, lagging, or a tugging sensation when you can feel the doctor's force or even the sutures. Implants under sedation can even achieve the effect of "as if you slept through the implantation".

If you want to talk about pain, it may be the anesthetic will hurt a little. However, if you are really afraid of pain, the doctor can first give you surface anesthesia, so that the gums are numb, and then anesthesia usually will not feel pain. Therefore, there is usually no need to worry about pain during the dental implant procedure.

 

The level of pain is related to these factors

Anyone who has ever had a tooth extracted must know that it is not the extraction process that hurts, but rather the pain of the incision that comes on slowly when the anesthetic gradually loses its effectiveness.

After the implant, you may experience mild discomfort, swelling, and pain during the recovery process as the anesthesia gradually wears off. However, the exact pain and how much it hurts will also depend on the following: different implant methods, different doctors, different alveolar bone conditions, different levels of implant difficulty, and your level of pain tolerance at the time of implantation.

For example, some people who come for implantation years after tooth extraction are prone to insufficient alveolar bone and may need bone grafting during implantation, or some need maxillary sinus lifting surgery, which will increase the difficulty of the surgery and the incision, and then it may hurt a little bit more than directly implanting the implant; or if you need to do All-On-4 or All-On-6 for half or full mouth missing teeth, you will need to implant multiple implants in one time in the mouth. Multiple implants, which are naturally more invasive, may result in a higher probability and degree of pain than someone who has only one tooth implant and does not have an accompanying procedure such as bone grafting or maxillary sinus lift.

In short, the more numerous and complex the dental implant process, the more damage it means and the greater the post-operative reaction is likely to be. In addition, experienced implant surgeons have their own experience of how to minimize the incision, shorten the implantation process, and reduce post-operative pain, which can make the implantation process less painful.

For example, in the preoperative examination stage of dental implant surgery, through digital CBCT, the doctor can accurately obtain the bone density of the patient's intraoral dental bed, the height and width of the alveolar bone itself, and other conditions, and be able to understand the direction of the oral nerves, the distribution of blood vessels, the location of the upper frontal sinus, the alveolar bone condition, and, based on these data, to confirm a better position, angle, depth of dental implant restoration, to obtain more stable retention and to The surgery avoids important nerves and blood vessels, which greatly improves the safety of dental implant surgery.

During the surgery, the implant surgeon navigates the implant according to the implant guide plate, and through real-time navigation technology, controls the position of the implant, avoids blood vessels and nerves, reduces the incision, and shortens the duration of the implant.

In short, dental implants do not necessarily hurt, especially with the help of digital technology. Moreover, the health benefits of dental implants are worth the courage to visit the dentist compared to the short-term pain.