antibiotics

Exploring Antibiotic Use with Lower Wisdom Teeth Surgery

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An interesting article titled “Correlation of antibiotic prophylaxis and difficulty of extraction with post operative inflammatory complications in the lower third molar surgery” appears in the 2014 British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and written by J. Y. Lee and et al. (vol. 52, pp. 54-57). The article set out to investigate the correlation between antibiotic prophylaxis, difficulty of extraction, and postoperative complications of lower wisdom teeth. The authors say that indiscriminate antibiotic prophylaxis can lead to antimicrobial resistance and a shift in the microbial population. The authors performed a retrospective analysis of extraction of lower wisdom teeth performed at Korea University Guro Hospital over a two year time frame starting in January 2010. The authors only included cases in which cefditoren pivoxil was prescribed as an antibiotic. In addition, patients that were kept in a hospital due to postoperative complications were excluded from the … Read more

Patient’s Perception of Antibiotic Need After Teeth Removal

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An interesting article titled “Patients’ Perception of the Need for Antibiotics Following Routine Tooth Extraction,” appears in the May 2015 issue of the Journal of Oral and Maxilofacial Sugery and written by Charles D. Boxx and Daniel M. Laskin (vol. 73, issue 5). The article seeks to perform a study of 120 patients having teeth removed in Richmond, Virginia, at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), to see their perception of antibiotic need. The patients were asked to complete a questionnaire about whether they expected to be prescribed antibiotics after tooth extraction, whether they would request them if not prescribed and the reason why, and whether they would expect to be prescribed antibiotics for a toothache or a dental abscess. The patients were further asked if they had ever requested antibiotics from a medical doctor for a cold. The patients also indicated … Read more

Heart Infections on the Rise in Dental Patients After Antibiotic Reductions

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In March 2008, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence issued guidelines recommending that dentists should no longer give antibiotics before invasive treatments to people who are considered at risk of developing a life threatening heart infection. The life threatening heart infection is known as infective endocarditis and 40% of all cases are caused by bacteria in the mouth. Researchers at the University of Sheffield set out to explore the impact of these guidelines. It was found that an increase in cases of infective endocarditis was observed above what was expected. In March 2013, this increase accounted for an extra 35 cases of infective endocarditis per month. The researchers found that the number of  prescribed antibiotic prophylaxis fell by 89% from 10,900 prescriptions per month, before the 2008 NICE guidelines, to 1,235 a month by March 2008. The researchers … Read more