SENSORY DISTURBANCES ASSOCIATED WITH IMPLANT-SURGERY

Purpose: This paper presents a critical review of the literature on ne urosensory disturbances associated with implant surgery. Materials and Methods: The reviewed literature includes mainly retrospective implan t studies and patients' surveys, as well as a few prospective psychoph ysical studies on sensory disorders following maxillofacial surgeries. Results: The available data suggest that injury to the peripheral bra nches of the trigeminal nerve and subsequent sensory disturbances are potential complications following implant surgery. Cross-sectional stu dies suggest that gross tactile sensation was regained in the vast maj ority of patients. However, data on the spatial and temporal patterns of recovery of this and other somatic sensation such as fine touch, no ciception, and temperature sense after implant surgery is still lackin g. The prevalence of sensory disturbances depends on several factors: the site of implant placement, the type of surgical procedures adopted , the design of the studies, the sensitivity of the testing methods, t he choice of the outcome measures, and the terminology used to describ e sensory disturbances. Extreme variation in the reported prevalence o f neurosensory disturbances (0% to 100%) suggest that these problems h ave not been adequately evaluated. Conclusion: Although sensory distur bances are transient in the majority of implant patients, their profou nd impact on the quality of life of the subjects affected and the poss ibility that they may persist clearly indicate that they should be ide ntified and evaluated through prospective studies, using validated tes ting protocols and outcome measures.