Severe Oral Infection and Cellulitis From Dental Implants

Case Overview

This oral implant case involves a sixty-five-year-old patient who was referred by her dentist to an oral surgeon after she underwent a procedure to insert two internal Heximplant titanium dental implants. She also underwent bone grafts to create a proper surface for device implantation. There were no complications during surgery, but the patient presented back to the office with complaints of severe pain and symptoms of an infectious process. The patient was sent home without antibiotics and told to return in a few days if the pain continued. Three days later, the patient was admitted to the emergency room for shortness of breath and lethargy. The patient was intubated due to respiratory failure and it was determined that a bacterial infection and sepsis was the underlying cause.

Questions to the Dentistry expert and their responses

Should these devices have been removed when an infection was first suspected?

In this case, the failure to remove the implants after suspected cellulitis and osteomyelitis led to the severe systemic complications including bacteremia and sepsis.

About the expert

This qualified, board certified oral surgeon has remained in active practice for over thirty years, during which he has been appointed to several high ranking clinical positions including Chair of Dentistry at his institution. He has authored a vast body of publications, and is capable of reviewing the case at hand.