Dental leaders join forces to keep antibiotics working

The Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK), the British Dental Association and the Association of Clinical Oral Microbiologists, supported by Public Health England, the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and the Antibiotic Action initiative, are asking their members to sign up at the Antibiotic Prescribing Pledge webpage and commit to help keep antibiotics working by auditing their management of oral and dental infections. The site will then post a message of support on their Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr profiles to help raise awareness among fellow professionals and the general public.

Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem that leads to antibiotics no longer being effective in treating even simple infections, with serious consequences for everyone, but particularly those undergoing major surgery, chemotherapy, organ or stem cell transplants. Every year, 25,000 people across Europe and 700,000 worldwide die from antibiotic resistant infections, and the Government predicts the annual global toll could be 10m by 2050 – more than all deaths from cancer.