At which stages of dental implant surgery is pain felt?
Since dental implant placement is a surgical procedure, one of the most common questions patients ask is how painful it is. In general, dental implant surgery is completed with minimal pain or discomfort for most patients thanks to modern anesthetic techniques and proper care. Let us examine the minimum pain mentioned in two stages:
Pain during dental implant surgery:
- In most cases, implant surgery is performed under local anesthesia. This prevents pain during the procedure by numbing the nerves in the jaw area. Patients usually feel no pain, except for a slight stinging sensation when the needle is inserted.
- In more complex cases (e.g., procedures requiring multiple implants or bone grafts) or for anxious patients, sedation anesthesia (light sedation) or general anesthesia may be preferred. Sedation allows the patient to relax and feel no discomfort during the procedure, even if they are conscious. General anesthesia, on the other hand, puts the patient completely asleep, so they do not feel anything.
- Under local anesthesia, patients can often perceive sensations such as pressure or vibration (for example, the sound of a drill or a slight pressure during implant placement). However, these sensations are not recognized as pain.
Pain after dental implant surgery:
- After the surgical procedure, some patients may experience mild to moderate pain or discomfort once the anesthetic has worn off (usually within a few hours). After dental implant treatment, depending on various factors, a feeling of pain may occur, usually at levels 3-5 on a scale of 1 to 10.This depends on the extent of the procedure and the patient's individual pain tolerance.
- Most patients describe pain after dental implant surgery as similar to pain after tooth extraction. The pain is usually mild to moderate and is most intense in the first 2-3 days.
- In patients with a single implant placement, pain is minimal. However, in cases involving multiple implants (all-on-4 or all-on-6), bone grafting, or additional procedures such as a sinus lift, the pain may be slightly more pronounced.
- Most patients find the pain tolerable and are relieved with painkillers.
- Pain and discomfort are usually significantly reduced within 3-7 days. Most patients can return to their normal activities within a week.
- Complete healing (osseointegration, i.e., fusion of the implant with the bone) may take 3-6 months, but pain is usually absent during this time.