Antibiotics prescribed by dentists can put patients at risk for developing a serious and potentially deadly infection that causes severe diarrhoea, according to US research presented at IDWeek 2017 earlier this month.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) tracked community-associated Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections—meaning in those patients who did not have an overnight stay in a hospital or nursing home—in five counties in the state over a six-year period.
During this time, researchers determined 15 per cent of those with the infection who had taken antibiotics had them prescribed for dental procedures.
Source: Antibiotics prescribed by dentists linked to deadly infection / Bite Magazine