Title

Antibiotics in dental practice: Global implications, clinical realities and the path towards stewardship

Authors

Anuja Nimbalkar^1,*, Alaa Eltayeb², Kanika Malhotra³, Arjun Sood⁴, Harini Ramaswamy⁵ & Sowmya Upadyayula⁶

Affiliation

¹Department of Dentistry, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, Maharashtra, India; ²Department of Dentistry, University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan; ³Department of Dentistry, Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India; ⁴Department of Dentistry, Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University, Rohtak, Haryana, India; ⁵Department of Dentistry, SRM Kattankulathur Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; ⁶Department of Dentistry, Government Dental College, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Anuja Nimbalkar - E-mail: anujadeshmukh1703@gmail.com
Alaa Eltayeb - E-mail: alaa38412@gmail.com
Kanika Malhotra - E-mail: malhotrakanika005@gmail.com
Arjun Sood - E-mail: Arjunsood369@gmail.com
Harini Ramaswamy - E-mail: rharinibds@gmail.com
Sowmya Upadyayula - E-mail: sowmya.upadyayula9496@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received February 1, 2026; Revised February 28, 2026; Accepted February 28, 2026, Published February 28, 2026

Abstract

Antibiotics play a crucial role in managing odontogenic infections, but inappropriate prescribing within dental practice still contributes to growing antimicrobial resistance. This review describes current U.S. recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Dental Association (ADA), the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). Research supports using narrow-spectrum antibiotics for short treatment periods, while prophylactic use is now mainly reserved for patients with certain cardiac or immunocompromising conditions. Ongoing over prescription is often linked to uncertainty in diagnosis, patient pressure and limited stewardship systems. Thus, the need for more practical strategies like expanding education, clinical decision tools and interprofessional collaboration to strengthen antibiotic stewardship.

Keywords

Antibiotic stewardship, dental guidelines, prophylaxis, antimicrobial resistance, odontogenic infections

Citation

Nimbalkar et al. Bioinformation 22(2): 1256-1262 (2026)

Edited by

Neelam Goyal & Shruti Dabi

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.