Breast Implants + Tattoos + Antibiotics?

I am one of the minority of plastic surgeons who DO recommend oral antibiotic prophylaxis with dental work, or any invasive procedure which produces a bacteremia (there aren't many, but dental work is the most common). I have seen 5 cases (over the 27 years I have been performing breast augmentation) of late unilateral and 1 bilateral cpasular contracture after many years of absolute softness (examined and verified), where the only relatable occurrences are dental procedures, including cleaning. No trauma or other identifiable cause.

The hypothesis is that it's not JUST exposure to the bacteria in your mouth that get into your blood stream after dental work, but also a minor, often unremembered bump or bruise to the breast (or breasts) that allow those circulating bloodstream bacteria to "get into" the space around your implants and stimulate capsular contracture from the bacteria-induced biofilm. Antibiotics may not prevent the minor trauma, but will help to kill the bacteria before a critical exposure is reached IF such a trauma and exposure coincide.

So, you ask about tattooing. The skin is indeed damaged. but this is not a bacteria-filled environment like the mouth, so unless you have chronic acne issues or the tattoo is extensive, I would not recommend antibiotics here either. Dental work, colonoscopic polyp removal, cervical cone, etc. YES, but tattoo session or ear piercing, NO.

Thanks for asking! Best wishes! Dr. Tholen

There is no scientific evidence that antibiotics prevent infection around implants at the time of dental procedures, or any procedure, including tatoos..  The same is true of people that have other material in their body such as pacemakers or artificial hips.  In fact use of antibiotics might be considered unsafe, contributing to more organisms that are drug resistant. Please review the Medical Letters review of this subject in 2012  (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2012; 54.

There is no scientific study that I am aware of regarding the incidence of bacteremia associated with people getting tattoos; I do not think that there is an indication for taking antibiotics prior to getting a tattoo done.

Best wishes.