title: Altered nasal airflow: an unusual complication following implant surgery in the anterior maxilla.
abstract: Dental implants have been in routine clinical use for over three decades and are a predictable treatment modality. However, as with all other aspects of dentistry, complications occur. A 50-year-old female patient with complaints of a long ongoing unpleasant altered nasal airflow presented herself at the VU University Medical Center Amsterdam. Visual inspection of the right nasal cavity revealed that the apical part of a dental implant placed in the upper right first incisor region had perforated the nasal floor and was partially protruding into the nasal cavity. Subsequent treatment consisted of a transnasal resection of the apical part of the dental implant to the level of the nasal floor. After a 12-month follow-up period, the patient reported having no altered nasal airflow. In conclusion, dental implants protruding into the nasal cavity can cause an alteration to the airflow. Furthermore, a partial removal of the apical part of the dental implant is a viable method of treating dental implants that extend into the nasal cavity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, VU University Medical Center/Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. jan.wolff@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, VU University Medical Center/Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: K Hakki
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Karagozoglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, VU University Medical Center, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jochen H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bretschneider
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, VU University Medical Center/Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tymour
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Forouzanfar
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, VU University Medical Center/Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Engelbert A J M
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Schulten