Persistent dysesthesia following dental implant placement: a treatment report of 2 cases

Occasionally, a patient has persistent dysesthesia symptoms (eg spontaneous or evoked painful or unpleasant sensations) following the placement of a dental implant. This disorder may be sufficiently superficial that an anesthetic and steroid mixture can be infiltrated into the region and satisfactorily treat the disorder. If an anesthetic infiltration can significantly reduce the patient's pain, this therapy may be beneficial. A 50:50 mixture of local anesthetic and steroid are combined in a dental anesthetic carpule and infiltrated into the painful region. If over the following week, the change in pain is greater than one would expect from an anesthetic infiltration, it suggests that this provided some degree of therapeutic response. A series of these infiltrations can be performed until the patient is symptom free or there is no additional improvement from these infiltrations. Two cases are discussed using this therapy.