I've just found this old report from a highly regarded and very experienced dental surgeon with many years in practice:-
"I would be a little cautious ------------ . After removing an abscessed tooth there will always be residual infection remaining in the dental socket which takes time to resolve, even with the best irrigation and antimicrobial therapy. It is important that the socket has time to heal for a few months so that there is a solid bed of bone to place a good sized implant. We now assess the geography of the bone with 3D x-ray technology so we can see where best to place the implant. Immediately placing an implant and loading it with a crown in my opinion too risky. It is of course more convenient for everybody in that its a quick fix and its a lot cheaper, but i would be interested to see a long term audit, (5-15 years) on the success of these types of implants. Unfortunately, the temptation to get implants at a much cheaper rate, or to get them abroad is on the increase and i've seen a number of failed cases where the patient selection was clearly wrong and implants should never have been placed. We are seeing many more patients that are treated for implants now, possibly because patients are better educated regarding their treatment options, and in some cases because they are relatively cheap compared to a something like a porcelain bridge, but we are also seeing an increase in failure from peri-implantitis. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/10964601/Peri-implantitis-The-time-bomb-in-dental-implants.html)
On the flip side of the argument, there are many people who have had implants for years and it continues to be a great treatment option if the case selection, planning, clinical expertise and post operative maintenance are all optimum."
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