Prevalence of Complications Associated with Inferior Alveolar Nerve Transposition following Implant Placement

One of the important parameters for implant placement is the presence of sufficient bone in terms of height and transverse thickness. Dental surgeons using the lateralization technique for inferior alveolar nerve transposition face challenges due to the neurological disorders caused by this technique. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of neurological disorders associated with nerve transposition following implant placement.

In this descriptive study, 26 patients over 18 years of age were selected. These subjects were toothless in the posterior mandibular region for a long time. Moreover, in these patients, the distance between the posterior ridges to the roof of the inferior alveolar canal was less than 10 mm. The prevalence of neural complications were assessed after 1 week 1,3,6 and 12 months following nerve transposition by using a questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 19) using the Chi-square test to measure mean and standard deviation through and a significance level of 0.5.

The study sample (n=26) consisted of 16 (61.5%) males and 10 (38.5%) females with the mean age of 56±6.7 years. The most common complication related to the inferior alveolar nerve was experiencing anesthesia which was reported to be 96.2%, 96.2%, 96.2%, 57.7%, and 19% during the 1st week, 1st month, 3rd month, 6th month, and 12th month post-surgery, respectively. Furthermore, it was reported that the tingling sensation decreased from 30.8% in 1 week to 11.5% in 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after the surgery.

Considering the results, all patients reported experiencing neurological disorders the day after the surgery; however, they recovered to normal state after a few weeks.