Rational use of antimicrobials in dentistry during pregnancy

The use of medicines during pregnancy deserves special attention from dentists due to the potential risks to fetal development.The prescription of antimicrobial drugs during this period must be based not only on the etiology of the disease butalso on the drug’s effect on the embryo, which may be toxic, possibly leading to irreversible lesions. Interest in studiesof the teratogenic effects of drugs increased in response to reports of the high incidence of phocomelia in patients treatedwith thalidomide. Although teratogenicity has long been known, pregnant women today are still exposed to this risk. Theeffects of drugs depend on the level of susceptibility of the fetus and on the period of exposure during pregnancy. In thiscontext, and considering the paucity of studies on this subject in dentistry, the aim of this review was to offer an up-to-datecompilation of data on the antimicrobial drugs most frequently used during pregnancy and the effects of their use (AU)