What is the normal time to wait after a tooth with an infected root canal is extracted before the implant can be placed? It never felt right, and a year later the tooth had to be extracted, and they want to put in a dental implant. So in my mind this infection was probably developing the entire year. Now that an oral surgeon has removed the tooth what is my reassurance that there isn’t infection harboring in the bone? How much time should be given to new bone growth and how will the infection be diagnosed as no longer a problem before the implant is placed. I appreciate information that you can provide.
- Loretta
Loretta,
When a tooth becomes infected, the tissue inside it dies. Then, since there is a small opening in the tooth at the apex of the root, infected matter continues to spill out into the bone around the end of the tooth. Your body fights the infection in the bone, but there is no way to get antibodies or white blood cells into the tooth to actually eliminate the infection, because that tissue is dead and there are no longer any blood vessels in it.
When the tooth is extracted, two important things happen. First, the source of the infection is eliminated, enabling your body defenses to quickly wipe out the remnants of the infection in the bone. Second, the missing tooth leaves a wide drainage opening into the bone to the heart of the infection. Because of this, there is rarely any problem with residual infection after a simple extraction.
Now in the case of an infected and impacted wisdom tooth, the infection is not inside the tooth and spilling out into the bone, but is in the space between the tooth and the gum. Additionally, the surgery to remove an impacted wisdom tooth requires cutting into the tissue and the bone, which can allow the infection to spread into that surgical area. Then the wound is usually sutured closed. For these reasons, an infection after the removal of an impacted wisdom tooth is not rare, and many dentists routinely prescribe antibiotics during the healing period to help prevent infection.
This blog is sponsored by Cleveland implant dentist Dr. Brad Hylan.
Click here to read reviews of Clear Choice Dental Implants Centers.