Thinking out of the box… in dentistry what is a stripped screw?

In dentistry mechanical complications may occur, such as loosening or damaging of the prosthetic components of an osseointegrated implant.

The detachment of the screw head from a dental implant can be a serious problem resulting in an unusable implant. There have been cases where a permanent implant crown presents with a fractured screw. Upon performing a detailed examination, it was seen that the screw head was stripped and/or bended. If the screw cannot be removed, then the implant is unusable and removal might be the only option. There have been cases where wear of the implant material is cumulative causing implant fracture. Dr. Hervas has developed a technique in most instances to remove the stripped screw and make the implant restorable again.

Primary failure:

Failure of implant integration may occur for several reasons, among the most important to mention overheating during osteotomy preparation, overpreparation of the osteotomy, implant contamination during surgery, poor bone quality, lack of primary stability, and macro/micro motion.

Late failure:

The etiology of late failure is most often either related to a bacterial event such as peri-implantitis and/or biomechanical failure due to occlusal trauma and/or implant overload.

It is very important that you visit your dentist, and that it is the one who performs a deep analysis of your case to determine the reasons and better still the improvement of the procedure.

For more information you can contact Dr. Mauricio Hervas at Implantation Dental Center to 954.476.0770.