The American Academy of Pediatrics today (November 18, 2013) released their report “Principles of Judicious Antibiotic Prescribing for Bacterial Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Pediatrics,” which explains that most upper respiratory infections are viral and require no antibiotic therapy.
More than 1 in 5 visits to a physician result in an antibiotic prescription, for about 50 million antibiotic prescriptions in the US. As many as 10 million of these are for respiratory infections of viral origin, where the antibiotic is unlikely to provide any benefit and may cause harm in the form of the emergence of antibiotic-resistance or other unintended side-effects.
Similarly, most dental infections heal with simple dental treatment, and antibiotics are usually not necessary to aid healing. The dentists at Wahl Family Dentistry carefully weigh the risks versus the benefits of medications before determining that a medication is necessary. If antibiotics are necessary, we can can usually dispense the necessary pills right in the office, and there is no charge for them.