Do You Need Antibiotics for Dental Implant Surgery?

Dental implants can be a wonderful way to replace missing teeth and many Americans have already benefited from this innovative implant surgery treatment. A dental implant consists of a small titanium post or screw that is inserted into the jawbone. It works by gradually fusing with the jawbone during a process called osseointegration (Read more…). Once osseointegration is complete, the implant post should be firmly bonded with the bone and will not be able to move.

Effects of Antibiotics on Dental Implant Surgery

Osseointegration is essential as dental implants need to be strong and stable to support replacement teeth. For this to occur, it’s important to give the implant post every chance of integrating with the jawbone. To make matters more complicated, often additional procedures are required such as bone or gum tissue grafts to help increase the chances of success or to enhance the appearance of your new teeth. The use of antibiotics can be extremely helpful in ensuring a good rate of healing.

It’s easy to imagine the mouth as being a clean and sterile place but this couldn’t be further from the truth. There are many different strains of bacteria in your mouth, some of which are capable of causing infection. The procedure such as dental implant surgery can allow these bacteria to get into your bloodstream. This is why Dr. Navid Rahmani might suggest using antibiotics, possibly prior to dental implant surgery. It could be particularly important if you are at a higher risk of developing an infection. Using antibiotics prior to the surgery will help prevent bacteria from infecting your body.

Infection Risks Around Dental Implants

People who may be more at risk of infection and who might benefit from taking antibiotics include older adults who may have serious health problems or anyone who has a weakened immune system. People who normally smoke, diabetics and people who are substantially underweight or overweight may all be at increased risk of infection. One particularly high-risk group includes people who have a history of infective endocarditis or who have prosthetic heart valves, or those people with congenital heart conditions.

Reduce Your Risk of Infection after Surgery

When you visit Manhattan Periodontics & Implant Surgery for your initial consultation with Dr.Rahmani, your general health will be discussed in some depth. Dr. Rahmani will need to decide if you will benefit from taking antibiotics as part of your dental implant treatment and can discuss your level of risk for infection and how best to reduce it.

Dr. Rahmani does have extremely high success rates for all his dental implant treatments so there is no real need to worry, provided you follow post-operative care instructions as closely as possible. Antibiotics will only be prescribed if there is a real need for them and not everyone will need to take antibiotics before or after dental implant surgery. A recent review that included low-risk healthy people did find that taking just a single dose of oral antibiotics and hour before surgery could be useful but this doesn’t necessarily mean that a low-risk individual will benefit from taking antibiotics or that it’s always the right thing to do.

In: Dental Implants

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