The overprescribing practices of antibiotics in dental offices is long under the scanner and has now been linked to the cause & the spread of the unnerving Clostridium difficile infections. A Minnesota study reports that 15% of community-associated C. difficile patients who had taken an antibiotic prior to their infection took them for a dental procedure. Dental recommendations for antibiotic prophylaxis have been reserved for 2 specific groups of patients: those who have heart conditions that may predispose them to a heart infection, and patients with prosthetic joints who are at risk of developing an infection at the site of the prosthetic.
However, those recommendations are no longer valid . But dentists are seldom aware! Often, dentists are not aware that complications can develop from antibiotic use. Better communication is needed between patients, dentists, and medical…
