Antibiotic use in dentistry of bacteria from advanced caries. The first line of treatment is the removal of the source of inflammation or infection by local operative measures. Generally, the abscess can be eradicated through surgical drainage alone; however this is sometimes inadequate. Therefore, systemic antibiotic treatment may be required, but only if there is evidence of spreading infection. As the bacteria involved are known, antibiotic therapy selection can be specific, based on published susceptibilities. Penicillin in the form of amoxicillin is the most common antibiotic to use. However, 3% of the patient population is allergic to penicillin, so erythromycin is often used in
Antibiotic natural products for the identification of new members of the 'antibiotic-ome' (defined as natural products with antibiotic activity), and their application in antibacterial drug discovery in the genomics era. Phytochemicals are the active biological component of plants and some phytochemicals including tannins, alkaloids, terpenoids, and flavonoids possess antimicrobial activity. Some antioxidant dietary supplements also contain phytochemicals (polyphenols), such as grape seed extract, and demonstrate "in vitro" anti-bacterial properties. Phytochemicals are able to inhibit peptidoglycan synthesis, damage microbial membrane structures, modify bacterial membrane surface hydrophobicity and also modulate quorum sensing. With increasing antibiotic resistance in recent years, the potential of new