Infection Develops after Dentist Fails to Provide Antibiotics Following Tooth Extraction

Case Overview

Questions to the Oral Surgery expert and their responses

Do you routinely perform tooth extraction?

I am an active practitioner and require antibiotics pre and post-operatively, especially for total hip replacement patients.

If so, have you routinely extracted teeth from patients who've had significant orthopedic surgery (i.e. total hip replacements) in the past?

I routinely treat total hip replacement patients with this condition.

Are there additional measures to be taken in this instance, to ensure the prevention of infection in an at risk patient?

Pre and post-op antibiotics are required for patients who have undergone a total hip replacement. There is an editorial in the Journal of Orthopedics that states that it should be the treatment of choice.

Have you ever had a patient develop the outcome described?

I have not experienced a similar outcome because of my proclivity for antibiotic coverage.

About the expert

This double board certified oral & maxillofacial surgeon/dental anesthesiologist earned a DDS from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, completed internship training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and completed residency training in oral surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Dentistry and a member of numerous prestigious societies in the field of oral surgery. He is a former associate clinical professor of dentistry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and a former clinical assistant professor of dental surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. Currently, this expert is an associate clinical professor of oral surgery at an ivy league dental university, an associate professor of clinical dental surgery an an ivy league university medical center, and an attending oral surgeon at 2 of New York's top hospitals.