Antibiotic prescription for the prevention and treatment of postoperative complications after routine dental implant placement. A cross-sectional study performed in Spain

BACKGROUND: As there are no established guidelines for antibiotic prescription after dental implant placement a study was made to determine the current prescribing habits of several groups of practitioners regarding antibiotics to prevent and/or treat postoperative complications — early failures and infections — in relation to routine dental implant placement. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An electronic survey was sent to postgraduate students and professionals with experience in routine dental implant placement who practice in Spain. The questions asked were related to whether antibiotics were routinely prescribed either pre- or postoperatively to prevent and/or treat postoperative complications during routine dental implant placement, and, if so, what antibiotics, dosage, frequency, and duration were used. Descriptive and bivariate analyses of the data were performed. RESULTS: Two hundred and forty-seven responses were obtained. Preventively, 17 respondents (6.9%) prescribed antibiotics only preoperatively (95% confidence interval (CI): 3.7 to 10.0%), 100 (40.5%) preferred to give them exclusively during the postoperative period (95%CI 34.4 to 46.6%) and 94 practitioners (38.1%) prescribed antibiotics both pre- and post-operatively (95%CI 32.0 to 44.1%). The most common preoperative regime was amoxicillin 2 g given orally 1 hour before the procedure (21.6%, n = 24) following amoxicillin 750 mg given orally 1 day prior to surgery (21.6%, n = 24). The most common routine postoperative regime was amoxicillin 750 mg given orally for 7 days (34.0%, n = 66). To treat postoperative infections during the osseointegration period, 233 respondents (93.2%) prescribed antibiotics (95%CI 91.4 to 97.2%). The most common regime used was amoxicillin and potassium clavulanate 875/125 mg, given orally for 7 days (51.9%, n = 121). CONCLUSIONS: There is no consensus among dental clinicians regarding antibiotic use during routine dental implant placement to prevent postoperative complications and/or early failures. Moreover, the most commonly-prescribed regimes differ from that recommend in the latest published studies. Key words:Antibiotics, dental implants, oral implantology, complications, postoperative wound infection, early failure.