Introduction Despite excellent reviews in the past several years, the use of antibiotics as prophylaxis for implant placement remains controversial.Aim To assess the literature on the efficacy of prophylactic antibiotics prescribed prior to and immediately following implant surgery (PIFS).Outcomes Whether administration of antibiotics reduced implant failure and post-operative complications.Design Databases searched were PubMed and Medline via Ovid (1946 to February 2018), Cochrane Library (Wiley) and Google Scholar.Materials and methods Quality assessment, meta-analysis with a forest plot and incorporated assessment of heterogeneity. A two-tailed paired t-test was performed, analysing differences in mean failure rates between groups.Results Fourteen publications were collected; 5,334 implants were placed with pre-operative antibiotics, 82 implants with antibiotics PIFS and 3,862 placed with no antibiotics. The overall risk ratio (RR) was 0.47 (95% CI 0.39-0.58), with the implant failure rates significantly affected by pre-operative intervention (Z = 7.00, P <0.00001). The number needed to treat (NNT) was 35 (95% CI 26.3-48.2). The difference between mean failure rates was statistically significant (P = 0.0335).Conclusion Administering prophylactic antibiotics reduced the risk of implant failures. Further investigations are recommended to establish a standardised protocol for the proper use of antibiotic regimen.