Use of antibiotics in dental practice.

Penicillin G administered parenterally or penicillin V administered orally are currently the antibiotics of choice for treatment of dental infections of usual etiology. Infections caused by penicillinase-producing staphylococci or those involving gram-negative bacteria should be treated with a penicillinase-resistant penicillin or an ampicillin-like derivative, respectively. Erythromycin is a second-choice bacteriostatic antibiotic, becoming first choice for treating dental infections in patients allergic to penicillin. The cephalosporins, similar in action to ampicillin-like penicillin derivatives, may be used with caution in patients who have exhibited delayed-type allergic reactions to penicillin and when erythromycin cannot be used. Their lack of advantage over other agents, and their cost, precludes routine use for usual dental infections. Clindamycin administered orally or lincomycin administered parenterally are reserve antibiotics indicated for treatment of bone infections and/or anaerobic infections refractory to commonly used antibiotics. Tetracyclines are, at best, third-choice agents for usual dental infections. However, they are useful for cases of acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis requiring systemic antibiotic therapy when penicillin is precluded. Vancomycin and streptomycin are used prophylactically for prevention of infective endocarditis in patients with prosthetic heart valves. Nystatin remains a first-choice agent for treatment of oral candidal infections. Ketoconazole, an orally active systemic antifungal agent, may be used for monilial infections of the oral cavity refractory to nystatin. Chemotherapy of viral infections is difficult because of the timing of events of the disease process versus appearance of clinical symptoms and lack of effective agents with selective toxicity. Herpes infections of the oral cavity have been treated--with limited success--with idoxuridine. Acyclovir, a newer antiviral drug, offers little clinical benefit for herpes infections in usually healthy patients but may be of value for treating such infections in immunocompromised patients. All antimicrobial agents may cause adverse reactions of varying degrees of severity. Most orally administered antibiotics may cause gastrointestinal disturbances. Superinfections occur with broad-spectrum antibiotics and a severe form of superinfection, antibiotic-associated colitis, has occurred with almost all antibiotics. Allergic reactions of all degrees of severity can occur with most antibiotics. The penicillins, followed by the cephalosporins and tetracyclines, are most frequently implicated in these reactions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)