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Objective. To describe a pattern of antibiotic prescription during root canal treatment procedures based on the reports of Lithuanian general dental practitioners. Materials and methods. Questionnaires concerning endodontic treatment were sent to all 2850 Lithuanian dental practitioners registered on the database of the Lithuanian Dental Chamber. Only the questions containing general information and individual decisions about antibiotic prescription for endodontic treatment were selected for the analysis. Results. The response rate was 53.8%. Of the 1532 responses, 1431 questionnaires received from licensed general dental practitioners were analyzed. More than 60% of the respondents reported prescribing antibiotics in cases of symptomatic apical periodontitis. Majority of the respondents (83.9%) reported symptomatic apical periodontitis with periostitis being a clear indication for the prescription of antibiotics. Nearly 2% of the respondents reported prescribing antibiotics in cases of symptomatic pulpitis. With an increasing duration of professional activity, an increase in the proportion of the respondents reporting prescription of antibiotics was observed. Amoxicillin was the most preferable antibiotic during endodontic treatment, followed by amoxicillin with clavulanic acid. An increase in reporting penicillin prescription and decline in prescribing amoxicillin and amoxicillin with clavulanic acid with regard to the increasing age of respondents was observed. Conclusions. Lithuanian dentists, particularly those with longer duration of professional activity, tended to exceed general recommendations for the antibiotics prescription in cases of endodontic infections. However, a trend toward prescription of broader spectrum antibiotics by younger dentists, compared with those with longer professional activity, was observed.

Apical periodontitis is an inflammation of dental periapical tissues developed as a response to colonization of microorganisms in root canal system. Etiology of periapical pathology is associated with different species of microorganisms that are not fully defined yet. The changes in the composition of root canal microbiota as well as other factors, such as host resistance to various infections and concomitant viral infection, etc., can influence development of the symptomatic apical periodontitis. Etiology of disease is reviewed in this article. The purpose of treatment of symptomatic apical periodontitis is to eliminate the infection in root canal system and to obtain relief of symptoms. It can be done by conventional root canal therapy, which can be combined with anti-inflammatory medication. Indications for antibiotic therapy in such cases are limited to particular occasions, which are considered in article. Nevertheless, findings show that usually dentists prescribe antibiotics improperly in clinical practice. It can render drugs ineffective against diseases of dental origin as well as against potentially fatal infectious diseases. Selection of antibiotics for the treatment of root canal infections is reviewed in this article. Importance of antimicrobial susceptibility testing is emphasized. There is a need for more research on microbial causes and interactions in different forms of apical periodontitis to improve diagnosis and treatment.

ObjectiveTo measure aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity in the pulp of teeth treated with fixed appliances for 6 months, and compare it with AST activity measured in untreated teeth.MethodsThe study sample consisted of 16 healthy subjects (mean age 25.7 ± 4.3 years) who required the extraction of maxillary premolars for orthodontic reasons. Of these, 6 individuals had a total of 11 sound teeth extracted without any orthodontic treatment (the control group), and 10 individuals had a total of 20 sound teeth extracted after 6 months of orthodontic alignment (the experimental group). Dental pulp samples were extracted from all control and experimental teeth, and the AST activity exhibited by these samples was determined spectrophotometrically at 20℃.ResultsMean AST values were 25.29 × 10-5 U/mg (standard deviation [SD] 9.95) in the control group and 27.54 × 10-5 U/mg (SD 31.81) in the experimental group. The difference between these means was not statistically significantly (p = 0.778), and the distribution of the AST values was also similar in both groups.ConclusionsNo statistically significant increase in AST activity in the pulp of mechanically loaded teeth was detected after 6 months of orthodontic alignment, as compared to that of teeth extracted from individuals who had not undergone orthodontic treatment. This suggests that time-related regenerative processes occur in the dental pulp.