Serious antibiotic-related adverse effects following unnecessary dental prophylaxis in the United States

Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients prescribed unnecessary antibiotic prophylaxis for a dental visit between 2011 and 2015 using the IBM Watson Health Marketscan Commercial Claims/Encounters, Medicare Supplemental, Coordination of Benefits Research databases.2 Patients were included if they were enrolled in commercial dental insurance and received unnecessary antibiotic prophylaxis. [...]our study did not rely on voluntary reporting by medical professionals to ascertain outcomes. [...]we may have been able to identify and more comprehensively characterize AAE rates than previous investigations. [...]the risk of harm with unnecessary antibiotic prophylaxis is not trivial. Because most AAEs are diagnosed in medical settings, dentists may not be aware of these adverse effects. Prevention of infective endocarditis: guidelines from the American Heart Association: a guideline from the American Heart Association Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease Committee, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, and the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia, and the Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Interdisciplinary Working Group.