Amoxicillin vs Levofloxacin in Treatment of Chronic Periodontitis: Review

Abstract

Background: Antibiotics Resistance can be the main problem faced by the specialists in the medical fields. The main reason of such resistance is the improper prescribing of antibiotics. In dentistry this problem must be in concern for 2 reasons, first, limited and outdated knowledge of many dentist in Iraq with recent modalities in the field of therapeutics, so they keep prescribing penicillins, for every odontogenic infection (rationale prescribing), second, the patient who keeps prescribing the same drug for himself every time (i.e. dealing with antibiotic as over-the-counter drug). Aim of the study: This review will clarifies the use of amoxicillin (most prescribed drug in Iraqi dental clinics) vs the use of third generation quinolones (levofloxacin) in an important field of dental practice which is periodontology, with focusing on levofloxacin as it took a privileged position in medical researches. Conclusion: levofloxacin was superior to amoxicillin since it is applied once daily, few nonhazardous side effects, nearly 100 % bioavailability in spite of different rout of administration, and can be applied topically as gels and intra-pocket films. Perhaps this can change a lot among practitioners' and non-practitioners' prescribing (habits).