Patients With Penicillin Allergy More Likely to Experience Implant Failure

A new study found that patients reporting a penicillin allergy were more likely to experience implant failure than patients who took amoxicillin, a penicillin antibiotic, before implant surgery and during the healing phase. Researchers at New York University College of Dentistry looked at the records of more than 830 patients. They determined that patients who took an alternative antibiotic—such as clindamycin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, or metronidazole—due to reported penicillin allergy were at significantly greater risk for implant failure. Of those patients who took clindamycin, 19.9% had an implant failure, and 30.8% of those who took azithromycin experienced implant failure. Patients who took amoxicillin had an 8.4% rate of implant failure. Researchers are unsure whether the alternative antibiotics are less effective than amoxicillin or if patients had a negative reaction to the implant materials. Click here to read more.