Incidence of transient bacteremia following dental surgery--prophylactic use of cefuroxime, ceftriaxone or clindamycin.

The incidence of transient bacteremia after dental surgery as examined in 15 ml of venous blood has been previously found to amount to 69%. In this study, cefuroxime (1.5g), ceftriaxone (1.0g) or clindamycin (0.6g) was used for chemoprophylaxis to investigate the rate of transient bacteremia after dental surgery. The concentrations of these antimicrobial agents in peripheral blood and an effusion from the tooth extraction wound were measured. The incidence of transient bacteremia was limited to 4.2% by cefuroxime, 0% by ceftriaxone and 5.9% by clindamycin.