Finch RG Adverse reactions to antibiotics, 4th edn. In: Greenwood D Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2000
Davies SD Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer Vol 2.London: Department of Health; 2011
Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
Health and Social Care Information Centre. Prescription Cost Analysis – data 2015. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
Palmer NO, Pealing R, Ireland RS, Martin MV A study of therapeutic antibiotic prescribing in National Health Service general dental practice in England. Br Dent J. 2000; 10:554-558
Palmer NO, Martin MV, Pealing R Paediatric antibiotic prescribing by general dental practitioners in England. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2001; 11:242-248
Palmer NO, Martin MV, Pealing R An analysis of antibiotic prescriptions from general dental practitioners in England. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2000; 46:1033-1035
Tulip DE, Palmer NO A retrospective investigation of the clinical management of patients attending an out of hours dental clinic in Merseyside under the new NHS dental contract. Br Dent J. 2008; 205:659-664
Cope A, Francis NA, Wood F Antibiotic prescribing in UK general dental practice: a cross-sectional study. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2016; 44:145-153
English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR) 2010–2014. Report 2015 Public Health England. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
General Dental Council. Standards for the Dental Team 2013. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
General Dental Council. Guidance on prescribing medicines 2013. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
London: Department of Health; 2010
, 2nd edn. London: Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK); 2012
Nagle D, Reader A, Beck M Effect of systemic penicillin on pain in untreated irreversible pulpitis. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2000; 90:636-640
London: Royal College of Surgeons of England; 1997
Pogrel MA Antibiotics in general practice. Dent Update. 1994; 21:274-280
Blum IR Contemporary views on dry socket (alveolar osteitis): a clinical appraisal of standardization, aetiopathogenesis and management: a critical review. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2002; 31:309-317
Noroozi AR, Philbert RF Modern concepts in understanding and management of the “dry socket” syndrome: comprehensive review of the literature. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2009; 107:30-35
London: NICE; 2008
Johnson BD, Engel D Acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis. A review of diagnosis, etiology and treatment. J Periodontol. 1986; 57:141-150
Matthews DC, Sutherland S, Basrani B Emergency management of acute apical abscesses in the permanent dentition: a systematic review of the literature. J Can Dent Assoc. 2003; 69
Matthews DC, Sutherland S Clinical practice guidelines on emergency management of acute apical periodontitis and acute apical abscess. Evid Based Dent. 2004; 5:7-11
Herrera D, Sanz M, Jepsen S A systematic review on the effect of systemic antimicrobials as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in periodontitis patients. J Clin Periodontol. 2002; 29:136-159
Herrera D, Alonso B, Leon R Antimicrobial therapy in periodontitis: the use of systemic antimicrobials against the subgingival biofilm. J Clin Periodontol. 2008; 35:45-66
Sgolastra F, Gatto R, Petrucci A Effectiveness of systemic amoxicillin/metronidazole as adjunctive therapy to scaling and root planing in the treatment of chronic periodontitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Periodontol. 2012; 83:1257-1269
Zandbergen D, Slot DE, Cobb CM The clinical effect of scaling and root planing and the concomitant administration of systemic amoxicillin and metronidazole: a systematic review. J Periodontol. 2013; 84:332-51
Bonito AJ, Lux L, Lohr KN Impact of local adjuncts to scaling and root planing in periodontal disease therapy: a systematic review. J Periodontol. 2005; 76:1227-1236
Guerrero A, Griffiths GS, Nibali L Adjunctive benefits of systemic amoxicillin and metronidazole in non-surgical treatment of generalized aggressive periodontitis: a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Clin Periodontol. 2005; 32:1096-1107
Varela VM, Heller D, Silva-Senem MX Systemic antimicrobials adjunctive to a repeated mechanical and antiseptic therapy for aggressive periodontitis: a 6-month randomized controlled trial. J Periodontol. 2011; 82:1121-1130
Preshaw PM, Hefti AF, Bradshaw MH Adjunctive subantimicrobial dose doxycycline in smokers and non-smokers with chronic periodontitis. J Clin Periodontol. 2005; 32:610-616
Sgolastra F, Petrucci A, Gatto R Long-term efficacy of subantimicrobial-dose doxycycline as an adjunctive treatment to scaling and root planing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Periodontol. 2011; 82:1570-1581
National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (ESMPB1). Clostridium difficile infection: risk with broad-spectrum antibiotics. 2015. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
Martin MV, Longman LP, Hill JB Acute dentoalveolar infections: an investigation of the duration of antibiotic therapy. Br Dent J. 1997; 183:135-137
Slots J, Pallasch TJ Dentists' role in halting antimicrobial resistance. J Dent Res. 1996; 75:1338-1341
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN). 2008. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
Siddiqi A, Morkel JA, Zafar S Antibiotic prophylaxis in third molar surgery: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial using split-mouth technique. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2010; 39:107-114
Lodi G, Figini L, Sardella A Antibiotics to prevent complications following tooth extractions. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012; (Issue 11)
Lindeboom JA, Frenken JW, Valkenburg P The role of preoperative prophylactic antibiotic administration in periapical endodontic surgery: a randomized, prospective double-blind placebo-controlled study. Int Endod J. 2005; 38:877-881
Ireland RS, Palmer NO, Lindenmeyer A An investigation of antibiotic prophylaxis in implant practice in the UK. Br Dent J. 2012; 213:(8)
Abu-Ta'a M, Quirynen M, Teughels W Asepsis during periodontal surgery involving oral implants and the usefulness of peri-operative antibiotics: a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial. J Clin Periodontol. 2008; 35:58-63
Esposito M, Cannizzaro G, Bozzoli P Effectiveness of prophylactic antibiotics at placement of dental implants: a pragmatic multicentre placebo-controlled randomised clinical trial. Eur J Oral Implantol. 2010; 3:135-143
Esposito M, Grusovin MG, Worthington HV Interventions for replacing missing teeth: antibiotics at dental implant placement to prevent complications. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013; (Issue 7)
Gould FK, Elliott TS, Foweraker J Guidelines for the prevention of endocarditis: report of the Working Party of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2006; 57:1035-1042
National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence. CG64: Prophylaxis against infective endocarditis: antimicrobial prophylaxis against infective endocarditis in adults and children undergoing interventional procedures. NICE guidelines [CG64].2015. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
Dayer MJ, Jones S, Prendergast B Incidence of infective endocarditis in England, 2000–13: a secular trend, interrupted time-series analysis. Lancet. 2015; 385:(9974)1219-1228
British National Formulary. 2016. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
Berbari EF, Osmon DR, Carr A Dental procedures as risk factors for prosthetic hip or knee infection: a hospital-based prospective case-control study. Clin Infect Dis. 2010; 50:8-16
Lockhart PB, Loven B, Brennan MT The evidence base for the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis in dental practice. J Am Dent Assoc. 2007; 138:458-474
Bamias A, Kastritis E, Bamia C Osteonecrosis of the jaw in cancer after treatment with bisphosphonates: incidence and risk factors. J Clin Oncol. 2005; 23:8580-8587
Hellstein JW, Adler RA, Edwards B Managing the care of patients receiving antiresorptive therapy for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis: Executive summary of recommendations from the American Dental Association Council on Scientific. J Am Dent Assoc. 2011; 142:1243-1241
Antimicrobial stewardship: systems and processes for effective antimicrobial medicine use. (Accessed 12 June 2016)
Antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic prescribing in dental practice Nikolaus O A Palmer Dental Update 2024 43:10, 707-709.
Authors
Nikolaus O APalmer
BDS, MFGDP(UK), PhD, FDS RCSEng, FFGDP(UK)
Research Fellow and Clinical Adviser in Dental Education Health Education England North West, Honorary Lecturer, School of Dentistry, University of Liverpool, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5PS, UK (nikolaus.palmer@me.com)
The purpose of this paper is to review the principles of antibiotic prescribing in light of the increasing worldwide problem of antimicrobial resistance and the evidence of inappropriate use of antibiotics in dentistry. Guidance on the management of dental infections and antibiotic prophylaxis based on a review of the scientific evidence will be given to ensure good patient care.
CPD/Clinical Relevance: To discuss the relevance of legislation around antimicrobial prescribing and antimicrobial stewardship for dentists.
Article
Dentists prescribe antibiotics to manage oral and dental infections. The benefits of prescribing antibiotics are, however, limited by a number of problems associated with their use, eg side-effects, allergic reactions, toxicity and the development of resistant strains of microbes.1
Within the last few decades antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a worldwide problem and constitutes a major threat to public health. The Chief Medical Officer recently highlighted the level of this threat by describing it as ‘a ticking time bomb’ that should be put on the government's national risk register along with terrorism.2 AMR has increased as a result of widespread use providing greater opportunity for bacteria to exchange genetic material, so that resistant genes can spread between bacterial populations. The indiscriminate prescribing of antibiotics by healthcare professions continues to be targeted as a major factor to be addressed,2 especially as fewer and fewer new antibiotics are being developed. Although there are new agents in development, no new class of antibiotic has been brought into clinical use since the 1980s. As antibiotics become less effective, the healthcare gains such as organ/stem cell transplants, major surgery and chemotherapy, will be lost, leaving these patients with a higher risk of mortality. It is estimated that 700,000 people die of antibiotic resistant infections each year and that, by 2050, the cumulative global cost will be 30 million lives and between $60 and $100 trillion.3
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Dental Update and reading some of our resources. To read more, please register today. You’ll enjoy the following great benefits: