The use of antibiotics after tooth extraction has increased over the past 17 years in South Korea, according to a study published on March 24 in the International Dental Journal.
A team led by Dr. Yoon Young Choi of Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine in Wonju used data from the country's National Health Insurance Data Sharing Service for 15.8 million cases of tooth extraction between 2002 and 2018. Prescriptions were issues in 85% of cases, and 91% included antibiotics, the researchers noted.
Patient odds of being prescribed antibiotics after a tooth extraction increased from 4.39 in 2002 to 6.97 in 2018. In addition, the rate of prescribing broad-spectrum antibiotics has increased over the past five years, with the odds ratio reaching a peak of 3.82 in 2018, they found.
