Although the dosage of oral antibiotics (OA) for the mandibular third molar extraction (MTME) varies among the administration periods according to the current guideline, our previous reports suggested that it might be possible to further shorten the administration period without increasing the incidence of surgical site infection (SSI). In the present study, we retrospectively evaluated the relationship between the incidence of SSI and the administration period of OA in patients who underwent the MTME in our hospital. This retrospective cohort study included 348 patients who underwent the MTME in our dental outpatient clinic from June 2020 to March 2022. The administrated antibiotic was amoxicillin (AMPC) in all patients. Patients were divided into two groups based on the administration period of AMPC single and three times before the surgery. The following information was collected: (1) patient factors (age, gender, body mass index, diagnosis, mandibular third molar status); (2) surgical factors (operation time, presence/absence of wound closure, presence/absence of hemostat, experience of surgeons); (3) relationship between administration period of OA and SSI occurrence; and (4) details of SSI. There were 217 cases in the single group and 131 cases in the three times group. The incidence of SSI was 1.1% (4/348), with 1.4% (3/217) in the single group and 0.8% (1/131) in the three times group; there was no significant difference between the two groups. Our result suggests that single administration of AMPC before the MTME would be sufficient for the prevention of SSI in Japanese patients without risk factors.
Keywords: administration period; amoxicillin; dental outpatient clinic; oral antibiotics; surgical site infection.