Drs. David Brisman, Adam Brisman and Mark Moses article, "Implant Failures Associated With Asymptomatic Endodontically Treated Teeth" (February JADA), has the potential to mislead practitioners into making inappropriate decisions. No one would question the inadvisability of placing an implant adjacent to a failing endodontically treated tooth. The fear of placing an implant adjacent to an asymptomatic healed tooth, in my opinion, is not warranted.
The cases reported showed that the implants were placed much too close to the endodontically treated tooth. There is general consensus that placement is critical to implant success, and, in these cases, the proximity to the natural root may have opened an avenue for bone breakdown and infection.
This is an area that requires more research before reaching a conclusion to remove asymptomatic teeth.