Antibiotic resistance continues to spread around the world, with the result that a growing number of infections are becoming harder to treat as the drugs used against them become less effective. Misuse and overuse, and above all do-it-yourself prescribing, are speeding up this process.
Antibiotics are not an appropriate treatment for toothache (except in the case of an infection or abscess, and as preventive cover before and after surgery), and yet a great many people turn to them when in acute pain, to feel better quickly.
Internationally, dentists are estimated to be responsible for 10% of all antibiotics prescribed to humans. However, studies in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (USA) have shown that around 80% of the antibiotics prescribed for toothache are unnecessary.
Dentists’ decisions are often influenced by patients’ expectations and the pressure they apply. People also regularly seek antibiotics for toothache from professionals outside dentistry, including GPs and A&E doctors.
Another serious problem is self-medication. Today, social media is widely used to look for antibiotics, avoid dental treatment and offer support to people with toothache, as a recent study by the Universities of Leeds and Manchester showed after analysing the behaviour of several groups on Facebook and Twitter.
This behaviour is extremely harmful, because an unsuitable antibiotic not only fails to have the desired effect, so the pain persists, but if taken at the wrong dose it can render the drug useless or, worse, make it harmful to the body, even causing serious side effects.
While antibiotic resistance develops naturally over time, usually through genetic changes, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics are unfortunately accelerating this process.
So if you have acute toothache, do not waste time and, above all, do not trust Dr Google: call our clinic straight away and book an urgent appointment with your trusted dentist!
Source:
“Antibiotics and toothache: a social media review”
Rachel Emmott, Sophy K Barber and Wendy Thompson
School of Dentistry, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
Division of Dentistry, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
Credits: photo by Tara Winstead on Pexels
