Titanium implant removal service is offered in those unfortunate situations that no longer justify saving a dental implant. Usually the patient complains either of aesthetic issue, of a health issue that overrides the benefits of having an implant, or a combination of both.

Dentistry was revolutionized by the application of implanted fixtures as a root replacement anchorage for stable dental prostheses. However, the implant may require removal if one of the following presents:

1)Advanced periimplantitis with poor prognosis. When the soft tissue is severely inflamed or the bone loss around the implant is significant, it is better to take it out rather than trying to save it. The reason to do that is the poor risks vs benefits ratio. Complete decontamination of the implant surface is not possible, even with chemicals, ozone and laser. Therefore, bone regeneration using graft will be hard to achieve and it will be partial regeneration at the most. Sometimes, the graft looks good on xray but it is not actually attached to the bone. Soft tissue (gum) graft works better, especially after removing the titanium implant threads in the exposed area and polishing the surface, because new soft tissue attachment to the implant surface is easier to form than new bone attachment. However, knowing that we offer superior products, such as zirconia implants, the patients often choose to replace the implant rather than trying to save it.

2) Adverse reaction, including allergy, to impurities in the titanium alloy. Reaction to the titanium itself is possible, although more rare. A simple test that we use is to ask the patient if he or she reacts to metal jewelry. If the patient has skin reaction to metal necklaces, earrings and rings, then we can expect a reaction to grade 5 titanium implants. The most common reactions are of neurological character (chronic fatigue syndrome, fuzzy brain) or skin allergy. When required or requested, we would refer the patient for specific skin test and/or immunology test from a blood sample.

3) implant fracture – it occurs due to one or a combination of the following:
– material fatigue
– pure titanium implants which are more fragile than alloys
– single tooth mini implants (too narrow to carry full load individually, with some exceptions)
– poor implant design with walls at the implant-abutment interface that are too narrow
– zirconium implants placed under unfavorable angulation, over-drilled or too narrow to use in the specific tooth location

4) abutment fracture or abutment screw damage – when removal of the abutment or the abutment screw is impossible, removal and replacement of the whole implant is indicated

5) otherwise healthy implant, placed in less than optimal position AND creating an aesthetic or functional issue. Not every implant placed in a wrong position, requires removal.