[Prophylactic and therapeutic use of antibiotics in dental medicine].

In dentistry antibiotics are used as a prophylactic measure as well as for therapeutic reasons. For the general practitioner, antibiotic prophylaxis of infectious diseases of dental or oral origin is more prevalent than the antibiotic treatment of such infections. Patients suffering from bacterial infections of oral origin should be referred to a dentist or to an oral surgeon. This review aims to precisely describe the indications for antibiotic preventive measures before dental or oral surgical treatments. Theses measures should be commonly planned by the general practitioner and the dentist. The actual treatment of the infection should, however, be left to the dentist, oral or maxillofacial surgeon.