After tooth extractions in the anterior mandible, one option is to wait until bone has healed within the extraction sites before placing implants. However, for patients who want to spend less time wearing a transitional removable denture, implants may be placed approximately 8 weeks or less after the teeth are extracted. It is generally agreed that placing implants immediately after extraction of teeth where there is exudate or active infection is contraindicated. The most conservative treatment is to place implants 8 weeks after infected teeth are removed, placing the implants in a healthy, noninfected jaw. This delay allows primary closure of incisions, avoidance of infection, and patient adjustment to the immediate denture.
(Source: AAOMS Surgical Update, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Vol. 19, Issue 1, 2004)
