NICE Revises Guidance On Prophylactic Antibiotic Cover Against Endocarditis

Main Category: Dentistry
Article Date: 31 Mar 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has just published a guideline entitled Prophylaxis Against Infective Endocarditis.

The new guidance, arrived at following a comprehensive analysis and review of all published evidence, now states that antimicrobial prophylaxis is no longer considered necessary for any patients at risk of developing infective endocarditis when undergoing dental procedures. In addition to advice for healthcare professionals, the guideline also includes advice from the patient perspective, which may be useful for dentists and other dental professionals who have to communicate the changes with their patients. The new guidelines are also summarised in the new edition (No 55, March 2008) of the British National Formulary (BNF).

The full NICE guideline can be found here.

The current BNF guidance can be found at: http://www.BNF.org.uk

The British Dental Association (BDA) is the professional association for dentists in the UK. It represents over 20,000 dentists working in general practice, in community and hospital settings, in academia and research, and in the armed forces.

British Dental Association