Short Dental Implants – A Unique Solution to Avoid Nerve Damage

Short dental implants have been around for a long time.  I mainly only use them in one area of the mouth.  The lower back molar area is the most common area to use shorter, smaller dental implants to avoid damage to nerve that is inside the bone.  For more than a decade, I have been placing these types of dental implants in my Burbank office.

Ideally, implants that are 10-13mm long are best when there is enough bone for them.  Of course when there is not enough bone, most of the time it is better to rebuild your bone to put is a regular size implant.  If it is not possible, short 5-8mm implants can be done.

Another alternative is to move the nerve out of the way through a nerve reposition so that it is out of the way.  That would be the equivalent of moving an electrical pole out of the way to build your house in the right spot.

Here is a patient that I treated just a few weeks ago.  Her jaw was very small and her nerve was close to the surface.  Although I do nerve repositioning, this was not a procedure she wanted to do.

I generated a surgical drill guide utilizing her CT scan and my Simplant virtual implant surgery software.  This allowed me to place the implants with a higher degree of precision since there was no room for error.  The nerve is the orange line or dot in the images.  You can see that it is close!

Short implants do work! In the right situation, you can avoid the need for bone grafting. They do require more skill to place during surgery than longer ones and they should have the teeth made a different way.  Because they are short, the teeth usually need to be connected for strength as opposed to individual teeth.

Ramsey A. Amin, D.D.S.
Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantology /Implant Dentistry
Fellow-American Academy of Implant Dentistry Burbank, CA

9 thoughts on “Short Dental Implants – A Unique Solution to Avoid Nerve Damage”

  1. I’m missing some lower back molars with quite a bit of bone loss since because they were taken out years ago. I’ve been told my nerve it sitting too high up/or too close to the surface. I’ve been to a few perios and oral surgeons. Some say it’s possible some say it’s not worth it to risk getting implants placed (failing/nerve damage). I’m not too young (nearing 40). The all on 4 seems seems to be an only option but I’d hate to pull out healthy teeth this early on. Are there any other options for someone like me?

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  2. Interesting. The false tooth is attached to post vs screwed into post? What is the disadvamtage to that ? Do you need to remove the post if there is a problem with the false teeth since it cannot be unscrewed ? Thanks for this info.

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  3. I am having #29 implant done, with 6mm to work with. I have had the 3d scan done. Just not sure if I want to have the bone graft done, (taking bone from my jaw). my dentist extracted my tooth, she used cadaver bone and it did not take. She put the implant in, which failed, and now we have bone or my gum that has dipped below the other teeth next to it. I was told by the surgery doctor that I could have a small implant done that clicks the crown on, or I could have bone grafting done, block montiquateral-? block. I just don’t want to go through all that pain and healing all over again. I wish that when my tooth was taken out (former crown site) that they would have done some sort of bone grafting then and there all at once instead of now going on year 2 of this whole ordeal. Don’t mind having a small “click and snap” implant, just don’t know if I should just go for the block grafting as to not have to worry about possibly having it later because somehow that implant will sit way above the gum, that is what I am imagine it to look like. It just seems like the bone is wearing away, because nothing is there to stop it, I forget and chew on that side, and food pushes the gum and or bone down. what would you suggest?

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    • I should have also stated that the surgeon said he was going to put the implant in for my dentist, as the dentist is only doing the crown, And that he would put the implant in the bone graft and fully cover the implant,and bone graft, which at a later time can be opened back up to place the crown. This way the new bone could grow around the implant while intact. To me, this sounds like it’s going to really be sore and more pain. And they are going to use that PRP. I wish that your office was not on the other side of the country for me, I would be there in a heartbeat for you to do this procedure and feel comfortable about you doing it. No worries! I also should have said that when the dentist tried to put the temp crown on the implant that she did, I could feel that the implant moved, that is why they took it out. The bone did not take to the implant and it started to move between the 3 month or more time that they tried to place the temp and letting the implant heal. My dentist tried to do the first implant, now she sends me to surgeon to get bone draft and new implant done. I still have a partial whole where the first one was. I say partial, but I can stick a match in the whole and it stands straight up, so the whole did not close completely. Really don’t want to have this bone graft, and all the pain and discomfort I think is going to come along with it…

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  4. Thanks for sharing !!! I never even knew this when I had my implants done a few months ago. It goes to show that not all dentists are all the same. Keep up the great website!
    A

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