Which Antibiotic Prophylaxis Guidelines for Infective Endocarditis Should Canadian Dentists Follow?

Dental providers must keep up to date with antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines for infectious endocarditis (IE) as these guidelines represent standards of care and determine medicolegal standards. A survey of Canadian dentists revealed that practi-tioners tend to employ antibiotic prophylaxis according to the guidelines in place at the time of their graduation from dental school — guidelines that often do not meet the cur-rent standards,1 as both the American Heart Association (AHA)2 and the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC)3 have currently updated their recommendations. Host factors that increase the risk of IE include specific cardiac abnormalities, a previous episode of IE and the extent of th