Penicillin V recommended as first line antibiotic for acute dento-alveolar infections
SAPG-Dental and clinical governance background to new prescribing guidance for penicillin V
The Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group (SAPG), part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, was established in 2008 at the request of the Scottish Government, to support the safe and effective use of antibiotics across hospital and community settings. The SAPG committee is a multi-professional clinical forum with representation from key stakeholders including dentistry. Its primary objective is to coordinate a national framework for antimicrobial stewardship and achieves this through several project sub-groups. SAPG works closely with NHS National Services Scotland (NSS), NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and Antimicrobial Management Teams in regional health boards to deliver this work.
The SAPG programme of work is aligned to Scotland’s “Realistic Medicine” agenda through efforts to reduce harm, waste and variation in antibiotic prescribing practice and to support person-centred care.
SAPG-Dental is a sub-group of SAPG with representation from dental practitioners, NES, CDO (Scotland), SDCEP and Scottish Dental Hospitals & School. Following an extensive period of research and consultation the SAPG committee and SAPG Dental sub-group members have approved guidance to promote the use of penicillin V in preference to amoxicillin for acute dental infections. This aligns with other SAPG work to use narrow spectrum agents wherever possible as a key action to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
The SAPG-dental guidance is hosted on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website
- Professor Andrew Smith, University of Glasgow/NHS GGC, Chair, SAPG Dental
- Dr Andrew Seaton, Consultant Infectious Diseases, NHS GGC , Chair of SAPG
- Dr Jacqueline Sneddon, Project Lead for SAPG,, Healthcare Improvement Scotland