What are the different types of antibiotics and their strengths?
Posted on September 13th, 2008 in Answers
glddstgpsy26 asked:
I have an abcessed tooth, and my dentist perscribed Clindamycin for me. Ive been taking it for 5 days now, and my tooth doesnt feel any better. Is there a stronger antibiotic that I should be taking? I will call my Dr. on Tuesday, but I just wanted to know what the difference is between all the antibiotics out there and their strengths.
I have an abcessed tooth, and my dentist perscribed Clindamycin for me. Ive been taking it for 5 days now, and my tooth doesnt feel any better. Is there a stronger antibiotic that I should be taking? I will call my Dr. on Tuesday, but I just wanted to know what the difference is between all the antibiotics out there and their strengths.
This post has 3 comments
September 14th, 2008
There is stronger, 2 many 2 list,just asked your dentist for one or to increase the dosage, or better yet have him take care of the offending tooth.
September 17th, 2008
No dentistry experience, but clindamycin is the usual antibiotic used for anaerobic infections in the upper half of the body. It is possible that you have some bacteria that are not susceptible to clindamycin–they’d have to culture it and test it to find out for sure. jimlive247 is right though, the most important thing is to get the abscess drained (which may require losing the tooth). All the antibiotics in the world won’t help if there is a big pus-ball there. Antibiotics do not penetrate abscesses well and often the pH inside is so low, the drugs will get destroyed before they can kill any bacteria. Sorry, but it is likely to be painful procedure. The low pH inside the abscess will also inactivate lidocaine, so the local anesthetics will not be maximally effective.
September 20th, 2008
More important than the “strength” is the specificity of the antibiotic. thus different bugs are sensitive to different things - penicillins are relatively broad spectrun, metronidazole is good against anaerobes etc. There’s no point in taking a higher dose if the infection is not sensitive to that antibio. Agree that the most important thing is to drain the infection which should be your dentist’s priority. Can drain by extraction or through the root canal system. Clindamycin is usually a good choice for dental infection but some bugs may be resistant therefore the infection persists.
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