Evaluating Dental Implant Resilience After Postoperative Infections

Abstract

Objective: Early infection after implant surgery can contribute to failure of dental implant. The present study aimed to evaluate the incidence of acute postsurgical infections in both successful and unsuccessful dental implants, along with other contributing elements.

Methods: This cross-sectional cohort study was conducted in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore over a two-year period from January 2021 to December 2022. It focused on evaluating early postoperative infections following dental implant procedure. Factors examined comprised of implant location, patient age and gender, tobacco consumption, antibiotic treatment after surgery, bone augmentation, and the timing of infection onset. The study categorized patients into two groups: Group A consisted of patients with surviving implants, whereas Group B included those with failed implants.

Results: Among the 380 patients studied, 24 (6.3%) experienced postoperative infections following implant placement. Out of these 16 were male and 8 were female patients. In Group A, which comprised patients with surviving implants, 10 implants (41.7%) developed postoperative infections, while in the failed group (Group B), 14 implants (58.3%) were affected. A notable disparity was observed between the two groups in terms of patients who smoked, the timing of infection diagnosis, those who underwent bone transplantation, and those who received implants immediately after tooth extraction compared to delayed implant placement. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the chances for failure uprose by 1.1 times when an infection developed four days following the surgical procedure in subjects who did not receive postoperative antibiotics. For those who consumed tobacco in any form and received antibiotics postoperatively, the chances of failure increased if the infection developed after six days, whereas for non-smokers, this likelihood increased after nine days.

Conclusion: Based on the study's results, it is documented that factors such as smoking, premature infection, insertion of implants in fresh alveolar sockets, and the use of bone substitutes in conjunction with implant placement may contribute to a higher risk of dental implant failure following acute infection.