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Prescribers | Dental Team | Policymakers | Patients 

Antibiotic stewardship is the effort:

  • To measure antibiotic prescribing 
  • To improve antibiotic prescribing by clinicians and use by patients so that antibiotics are only prescribed and used when needed 
  • To minimize misdiagnoses or delayed diagnoses leading to the underuse of antibiotics
  • To ensure that the right drug, dose, and duration are selected when an antibiotic is needed

Improving antibiotic prescribing and use is critical to effectively treat infections, protect patients from harm caused by unnecessary antibiotic use, and combat antibiotic resistance.

Key Facts for Dental Healthcare Workers to Know about Antibiotic Stewardship

  • One dose of antibiotics can cause resistance
  • Antibiotic prophylaxis guidance for dental patients with prosthetic joints has been updated, antibiotic prophylaxis is only considered in patients with an immunocompromised condition and an invasive dental procedure
  • At this time, antibiotic prophylaxis for cardiovascular conditions only requires prophylaxis with an invasive dental procedure and a high-risk condition,
  • It’s important that dental teams screen for a history of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI/Cdiff) and limit the use of clindamycin

CDC’s Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship offers providers and facilities a set of key principles to guide efforts to improve antibiotic use and, therefore, advance patient safety and improve outcomes. Below are a series of antibiotic stewardship resources for dental prescribers, dental team members, patients receiving dental care, and policymakers.

Antibiotic Stewardship for Prescribers   Antibiotic Stewardship for the Dental Team
Antibiotic Stewardship for Policymakers    Antibiotic Stewardship for Patients

 

2025 Antibiotic Stewardship Summit Recordings AVAILABLE At No Cost!

The Association for Dental Safety, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hosted the third annual National Antibiotic Stewardship Summit on February 2, 2025, in Atlanta, GA. The Summit presented national prescribing data and shared emerging legal developments, research and toolkits. Participants learned how to design policy for their practice/institution and left with new resources to advance successful stewardship in dentistry. Click HERE for a blog summary of the Summit. Click HERE for On-Demand recordings offering up to 6.5 hours of CE credit. Note, you must log-in to the ADS website, but membership is not required. Click HERE for instructions to claim self-study CE credit.