Dental implants are routinely placed beside natural teeth and this is generally very safe to do. The only exception to this would be if the natural root was very curved or tilted unfavourably in the proposed path of the implant. This could cause the root to be damaged by the implant, however this can usually be avoided by careful pre-operative planning. If a tooth is inadvertently damaged by the placement of a nearby implant, any resulting problems can generally be resolved by root canal treatment in which the nerve of the natural tooth is removed.