Angels,

I have 40 years of dental experience, much of which is in oral surgery .... it is NOT in your best interest to have the original oral surgeon remove this implant unless he agrees to carry out a thorough debridement and consults with an infection disease specialist. He has made it clear that he has no intentions of performing a thorough surgery which means you will be NO better off after the implant is removed. In fact, you could end up worse because the surgery is going to ignite the bacteria like a torch being lit with a match. The fact that he stated to the ENT that this infection is out of his comfort zone is beyond my comprehension. I cannot tell you how scary that is to hear coming from an oral surgeon who is trained to diagnose and deal with this type of infection. The fact that he has been so dismissive of this infection and that he won't even consult with an infectious disease specialist even though he admits "it's beyond his comfort zone" tells me that he doesn't care and he could certainly benefit from some additional education on osteomyelitis asap.

By going to the original oral surgeon to remove the implant knowing full well that he is not going to do a thorough job and he is not going to properly address the infection, you are giving him permission to do just that and no more. You will not have a leg to stand on legally if you do that.

The ENT and the second oral surgeon are suggesting that the original os remove the implant for two reasons:

#1 Because you don't seem to want to cut ties with that oral surgeon in spite of knowing that he is not treating you properly. They can't speak ill of him to you without risking a law suit from him. They also are cautious about treating you because they do not want to be blamed by you for any post operative complications or additional surgeries that may need to be done due to the extent of the infection and because of the previous surgeries that were done.

#2 Ideally, the guy who put the implant in should be the one to remove it. However, not in your case. It makes no sense to have two inappropriate surgeries done. The second oral surgeon can remove the implant and debride the infection and is willing to work with the ENT and infection disease specialist. He needs to have ALL of your records as I have stated previously. They are his guideline for performing the surgery.

If you forgo the original oral surgeon, stop going to him for anything and "hire" the ENT and the second oral surgeon to treat you, they will take you on as their patient and collaborate with an infection disease specialist. But if you keep the original oral surgeon involved at all, then you cannot blame these other doctors for not helping you any further. By keeping the original surgeon in the picture, you keep throwing these other guys into a mix that they do not want to be a part of and for good reason.

It is not that nobody cares.... it is that the original oral surgeon should be let go so that others can more easily step in and take care of you.

Angels, I have given you as much information as I possibly can. You have to be comfortable with your decision and I hope that you will give serious thought to the actions that you take from here on out.

Bryanna