Overview of antibiotic use for dental procedures

Only use antibiotics before a dental procedure if there is a clear indication for their use.

• Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (use of antibiotics to prevent surgical site infection) is rarely indicated—see here.
• Infective endocarditis prophylaxis (use of antibiotics to prevent infective endocarditis) is needed for patients with specific cardiac conditions (see here) undergoing specific dental procedures (see here), even if surgical antibiotic prophylaxis is not indicated—see here.
• Antibiotics to treat acute odontogenic infection may be required, even if surgical antibiotic prophylaxis and infective endocarditis prophylaxis are not indicated—see here.