Antibiotic use in dentistry Antibiotic use in dentistry There are many circumstances during dental treatment where antibiotics are prescribed by dentists to prevent further infection (e.g. post-operative infection). The most common antibiotic prescribed by dental practitioners is penicillin in the form of amoxicillin, however many patients are hypersensitive to this particular antibiotic. Therefore, in the cases of allergies, erythromycin is used instead. Bacteraemia is a condition in which bacteria are present in the blood and may cause disease, including systemic disease such as infective endocarditis. Some dental treatments may cause bacteraemia, such as tooth extractions, subgingival scaling or even simple aggressive tooth brushing by
Antibiotic prophylaxis the preferred drugs for perioperative prophylaxis due to their low toxicity. Parenteral systemic antibiotics seem to be more appropriate than oral or topical antibiotics because the chosen antibiotics must reach high concentrations at all sites of danger. It is well recognized that broad-spectrum antibiotics are more likely to prevent gram-negative sepsis. New data demonstrate that third generation cephalosporins are more effective than first and second generation cephalosporins if all perioperative infectious complications are taken into consideration. Dermatologic surgeons commonly use antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent bacterial endocarditis. Based on previous studies, though, the risk of endocarditis following cutaneous surgery is low