Safe, Effective Pain Management Following Dental Implant Surgery

The evolution of dental implants from an unvalidated mechanistic procedure to a clinically validated intervention has been driven by the integration of material sciences, tissue biology, and clinical expertise, culminating in a remarkable therapeutic innovation whose impact may be comparable to that of fluoride in the prevention of dental caries. The surgical placement of an implant, unfortunately, involves many of the same traits that contribute to dental neglect and subsequent tooth loss that necessitates implant placement: fear of intraoral injections of a local anesthetic, a surgical incision into soft tissue, use of a drill to remove bone, and postoperative pain for several days augmented by the inflammatory cascade. Effective regional anesthesia and judicious use of an anxiolytic medication can overcome patient reticence to having an implant procedure, but postoperative pain must still be managed to reduce the risks of opioid adverse events or triggering substance abuse. This article emphasizes safe and effective strategies to minimize postoperative pain with targeted approaches in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) to lessen the onset and intensity of pain, decrease the incidence of opioid adverse events, and mitigate the development of substance abuse.