How long is too long for antibiotics?

[MariG]

Hello, so my son 15 has a abscess tooth that he was seen for this past Wednesday. Upon examination we were told the shell was good and that they would do some work in the tooth and put on a crown but he's scheduled out to get that done 06/18. In the meantime the dentist prescribed amoxicillin 500mg 3x/day and instructed us that he would take it until his appointment in June. Is that a long time? She said if he stopped the infection would just come back and he HAD to take it. He has been taking it and I've incorporated probiotics in his diet to help his gut health but I'm a little worried that might be a long time to keep him on antibiotics and 3x/ day. The infection has already started to drain and swelling is down as of now and we will continue. Is this normal though?To be on antibiotics for longer than a month?

 

[Gordon]

Is this normal though?To be on antibiotics for longer than a month?

Not in this country, no.

 

[MariG]

@Gordon
She even gave us 3 refills so we can keep getting them until he's seen basically. Obviously I'm not a doctor nor a dentist but everything I've researched says 2 weeks tends to be the max for antibiotics. This is his first time on a antibiotic regimen, and I don't want to destroy his system by overusing antibiotics. I'm assuming IF he started showing signs of returned infection we could just resume the antibiotics? Otherwise it seems like it would stop being beneficial or necessary after the two week mark.

 

[Gordon]

It's not so much you'd damage him but there's no benefit in using the amoxyl for any more than 3-5 days, all susceptible bugs will be killed and there's a chance of getting an infection from a penicillin resistant organism as well.
Ideally if a recurrent infection occurred you'd want a totally different antibiotic like Metronidazole with a different spectrum of action.

 

[MariG]

@Gordon okay thank you for that. I definitely feel more informed and will advocate as necessary for his treatment plan. I appreciate it.