The Basque company BTI Biotechnology Institute has reported the third world clinical trial on the use of antibiotics in oral implantology. The use of dental implants for replacing lost teeth is a widely accepted treatment with high rates of success. However, sometimes failure occurs, mainly due to bacterial contamination at the place of the implant insertion. The use of antibiotics, specially antibiotic prophylaxis, in oral implantology is still under debate.

Only two clinical trials trying to solve this question have been published to date. Therefore, additional studies shedding light and reaching a final conclusion are needed. Thus, BTI’s work is the third study worldwide tackling this issue. Moreover, there are no standard antibiotic prophylaxis protocols in simple implant surgery. Existing references just report massive antibiotic prescription both in therapeutics and prophylaxis.

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness and safety of 2 grams of oral amoxyciline against a placebo of similar amount used in antibiotic prophylaxis one hour before dental implant placing in two bone types (II and III). The clinical trial involved 12 Spanish private hospitals. In total, 105 patients were recruited and randomly separated in two parallel groups receiving either amoxyciline or a placebo. Next, post-surgery infections and possible side effects were assessed, together with the unsuccessful implant rate.

The administered treatment type did not significantly affect the probability of suffering a post-surgery infection neither independently nor assuming the variables modifying such effect. The infection-free time was similar for both treatment types. A total of 4 implants failed along the trial period: 2 in the amoxyciline group and 2 in the placebo group. Consequently, there were no significant diferences between both groups.

In conclusion, there were no statistical significant differences among both groups with regards to the number of post-surgery infections, infection-free time, side effects, failure rate and saprophytes’ features. No post-surgery infection risk factor was detected. The clinical trial concludes that no antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended in simple implant surgery in patients with type II and III bones.