In general dentistry, as with any of the medical fields, we have benefitted greatly from the discovery of antibiotics. In 1928, scientist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, changing how we fought bacterial infections forever. In this discovery, and subsequent medical advances we were able to help the body win the battle against previously serious infections. With the aid of modern medicine and a new holistic approach to the use of all medication, the practice of general dentistry has greatly improved how we fight dental infections. The challenge that you as a patient may face, and we certainly are empathetic to this, is the desire to be treated immediately with these wonder drugs. For us, as your dentist, it is important to have a slower and more systematic approach to resolving issues with bacterial infections. For the last several years, the world has been plagued by the appearance of bacterial strains that have changed and mutated to be resistant to the common antibiotics. This is primarily because there are too many antibiotics being handed out; and so we want to make sure we wait and properly treat whatever you have going on so that when you leave it is without any infection. In the practice of general dentistry, we get to hear all the urban legends and myths that float around, including some on antibiotics.
The myths general dentistry has to resolve are many, but perhaps none as acute as the ones associated with general dentistry and antibiotics. Here is the most common one: people actually believe that antibiotics cure diseases. This is a well-founded myth, which makes it the hardest to disprove because people know that when they take a course of antibiotics they tend to feel better. Infections, including those of the oral variety, tend to go away which means the pain, inflammation, and fevers associated with the infection also goes away. It is often hardest to argue with how people feel, but the reality is that patients cure patients. Your immune system will fight off 60% of all infections without any help from an outside agent. What antibiotics do is help to rebalance the body's own immune system so that it is stronger, reinforced by the antibiotics, and will go to work taking out the infection. In other words, your own body does much of the heavy lifting, while antibiotics provide the shot of confidence.
Another myth, which has persisted for all 80 plus years that antibiotics have been around, is that there is a set course of antibiotics for specific dental infections. Or that if you fail to take the complete course the disease will rebound worse than before. Our goal is to treat the source of the infection, which once removed cannot cause anything to rebound. Further, there is no exact science to how antibiotics work on any particular infection. Years of experience and knowledge help us to get very close to a “cured” date but regular checkups are the only way for us to know exactly when the antibiotic has helped your body to kill the infection. In other words, there is no set regime or timeline other than the one set by experience.
