The Microbe Strikes Back: Dentistry and Antibiotic Resistance

For billions of years bacteria have inhabited the earth. These microbes are survivors; highly adaptable to external forces and enhanced abilities to evolve rapidly in changing environments. However, since the discovery of penicillin, antibiotics have predominantly kept the ravaging effects of harmful bacteria at bay ... until now. Due to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals worldwide and a lack of new drug development by pharmaceutical companies, bacteria are back! They have evolved and developed resistance to these medicines and pose a real threat in the treatment of bacterial infection. Join Dr Sarah Raphael from ADA NSW as she explores this topic with Dr Smitha Sukumar, a general dentist and lecturer at Sydney Dental School undertaking her PhD in antibiotic resistance. Smitha is on a mission to improve dentist's awareness of this issue to better optimise the use of antibiotics in health care.
International Antibiotics Awareness week is from the 18th to the 24th of November and is the perfect time to reflect on how antibiotics have revolutionised health care and on how we prescribe them. Being antibiotic aware ensures these drugs continue to be therapeutic for years to come.

Interviewer(s): Dr Sarah Raphael
Interviewee(s): Dr Smitha Sukumar
Related Course/Event/Links: World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2020

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