Case Reports: Implant Screwdriver Aspiration and Ingestion

Among foreign body incidents in implant dentistry, the implant screwdriver appears in the published case literature more often than any single other instrument — likely a function of its small size, its proximity to the airway during use, and the repeated hand-offs involved in seating and torquing components.

Multiple independent case reports, spanning three decades, describe this same event: Bergermann et al. (1992) documented screwdriver aspiration as a complication of implant placement. de Souza (2012) reported involuntary screwdriver ingestion during a surgical procedure. Pingarrón described bronchial impaction of an implant screwdriver following aspiration. Kim reported endoscopic removal of an aspirated healing abutment and screwdriver under conscious sedation. El Wazani et al. and Jain & Baliga each contributed further case reports and literature reviews on the same complication.

One reported outcome underscores that this is not a purely procedural inconvenience: a case documented in MedPro's Malpractice Minute describes a patient death following a swallowed dental tool.

Key takeaway: Screwdriver aspiration and ingestion during implant placement is a recurring event across independent case reports from multiple countries and decades — with outcomes ranging from routine retrieval to, in at least one documented case, patient death.

Browse the full research library for a look at foreign body risks beyond the screwdriver itself.