Wound Healing in Dental Implant Surgery in Patients with or without Antibiotic Prophylaxis

To assess the association of various clinical parameters and proinflammatory cytokines in the wound-healing process of dental implants with the presence or absence of antibiotic prophylaxis.

The present study included evaluation of early wound-healing process in patients undergoing dental implant placement procedures with and without antibiotic prophylaxis. A total of 50 patients with partial edentulous arch were included in the present study. All the subjects were broadly divided into two study groups depending upon the presence or absence of prophylactic antibiotic therapy, with 25 patients in each group. One group consisted of subjects who were given prophylactic amoxicillin (2 gm), 1 hour before the starting of the surgery, followed by 500 mg 3 times a day for 1 week. Detection of interleukin (IL)-1β and -8 cytokine levels in the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF)/peri-implant crevicular fluid (PICF) was done immediately after the dental surgery. All the results were compiled and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 17.0.

A significant increase in the PICF IL-1β concentration at postoperative follow-up time was observed in the antibiotic group in comparison with the baseline values. A significant increase in the IL-8 concentration postoperatively in comparison with the baseline values in the antibiotic group was also observed. At the time of surgery, the IL-8 concentrations were statistically lower in the antibiotic group in comparison with the other study group. Concentration of amoxicillin, as observed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), was lower than the minimum detection levels.

Detection of amoxicillin is not feasible within the GCF samples immediately after dental surgery procedure.

Clinical usefulness of prophylactic use of amoxicillin is still doubtful.