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Dentistry and antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

By DTA | 24th November 2021 | News

 NHS dentistry and oral health update bulletin from Chief Dental Officer England Sara Hurley and UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance Professor Dame Sally Davies with special focus on antibiotics. 

"Every corner of our health system depends on antibiotics but the increasingly alarming issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its most serious form, antibiotic resistance - is a silent pandemic that is growing in the shadows.

Antimicrobial Awareness Week  presents an opportunity for reflection on what we can all do to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. The almost 4% increase in hospitalisations from serious antibiotic-resistant infections  from the previous year is highly concerning, and failing to urgently tackle the root cause of this issue could result in ten million deaths every year, globally, by 2050. 

Healthcare professionals, and dentists in particular, will be crucial to preventing further increases in these statistics by ensuring they play their part to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use. Between 2016 and 2020, primary care NHS dentists in England prescribed 10.3% of all antimicrobial prescription items  in the whole of NHS primary care."

You can read  the full bulletin here. 

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