In dentistry, oral rehabilitation using dental implants has gained more
popularity among patients and dentists because of dispelling some
drawbacks and limitations of traditional prostheses. Even though this
treatment is generally considered to be safe, implants can also have
various problems and complications such as damaging adjacent
neurovascular bundles like inferior alveolar and mental, infection, and
migration (i.e., displacement) to abutting anatomical
spaces.1 Maxillary, ethmoid, and sphenoid sinuses,
cranial fossae, orbital floor, and nasal cavity are reported sites of
implant migration.2–6 There have been many cases of
dental implants migrating into the maxillary sinus, while instances of
displacement into other craniofacial tissues are
sporadic.5 Implant migration into the nasal cavity is
extremely rare. As far as we know, to this day, only four studies in the
literature have reported this unique complication. It has been decades
since implants became a frequent routine procedure in everyday dental
practice. Regarding this high application rate, only four reported
occurrences of this complication indicate the rarity of this condition.
Migrated implants could damage vital organs and cause severe or
life-threatening injuries. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the
exact coordinates of migrated implants to extract them securely and
quickly. Because of the complicated anatomy of paranasal sinuses and
nasal cavity, conventional radiographic approaches fail to depict the
exact situation, and further advanced imaging techniques are required.
These imaging modalities necessitate professional interpreting and
previous encounter with comparable scenarios in the field.
Here we report a clinical case of migration of an implant into the nasal
cavity, which was discovered when taking three-dimensional (3D)
radiographs to find it after displacement into the maxillary sinus.