Unconventional implant placement. V: Implant placement through impacted teeth; results from 10 cases with an 8- to 1-year follow-up.

The aim of this paper is to document additional cases to an unconventional protocol published in 2009. In 9 patients, sites rendered edentulous by the presence of an impacted maxillary canine were treated with 12 implants placed through the impacted canines. In another patient, 3 implants were inserted in the mandible to rehabilitate a failing bridge. Implants were placed encroaching upon either the root or the crown. No postoperative pain was reported. Healing was uneventful in all but one patient; the latter underwent soft tissue infection 2 weeks after implant placement and was successfully treated. All implants were restored; no implant failed during the 1- to 8-year follow-up. Before implementing this protocol on a routine basis, more implants and a longer follow-up are required. However, it opens intriguing treatment possibilities. It also suggests that there is still room for shifting a well-anchored paradigm in dental implantology.