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If you have a dental infection, it is almost always essential to take antibiotics alongside dental treatment in order to stop the bacteria from spreading and to prevent further infections later on.
This is part of the reason why we offer a quick, discreet online consultation system to ensure you can access amoxicillin and have a treatment available as and when you need it.
Unlike other infections, a dental abscess will not get better on its own, and it is essential to complete the course that was prescribed to you, even as you begin to feel better.
However, a common question we are asked during consultations involves taking antibiotics during pregnancy.
Is it safe to take amoxicillin whilst pregnant, whilst trying to conceive or whilst breastfeeding following birth?
The short answer toall three of these questions is yes, but it is important to understand why the concern exists in the first place, answer common misconceptions, let you know what to expect and what the consequences can be if you stop taking antibiotics early.
Why Might Pregnancy Affect Medication?
Before we explore antibiotics and dental abscess antibiotics more specifically, it is important to explore where our initial question came from. Why might there be a concern that amoxicillin could affect your baby before conception, before birth or even afterwards?
The simple answer to this is that many, if not most, medicines will pass through the bloodstream from mother to child via the placenta and the umbilical cord. Some medicines can also affect reproductive cells such as sperm and egg cells, and others still can be found in breast milk.
According to Best Use of Medicines In Pregnancy (BUMPs), a website run by the UK Teratology Information Service (UKTIS) and commissioned by the UK Health Security Agency, penicillin antibiotics such as amoxicillin are often prescribed during pregnancy and can be used safely if recommended by a doctor.
Other medicines can pass from parent to foetus, including common medicines such as painkillers, which makes it important to ask your doctor about any medicines you are taking regularly as soon as you find out you are pregnant or are attempting to get pregnant.
This is true even for medications that you have been taking for a long time, that you tolerate well and do not have any side effects.
Most of the time, medicines will not have any significant effect, but if you are in any doubt, check BUMPS, your doctor, your midwife or your pharmacist.
What Should You Expect When Taking Amoxicillin?
It is important to explain where this concern can sometimes come from because that makes it easier to explain what you expect when it comes to taking amoxicillin whilst pregnant.
In practice, whilst you should inform the online doctor during our consultation session that you are pregnant if you know, a course of antibiotics is typically so short that there is little chance that more than small amounts of the medication will reach your baby, either through the placenta or through breastmilk.
There are potential side effects to taking amoxicillin, which include diarrhoea, nausea and a skin rash, which can, in very rare cases, be passed on to a baby feeding from you, and you should let your doctor know if you are affected by them.
In general, however, these effects are very rare, very mild and tend to be short-lived. Therefore, you should complete the course unless your doctor tells you to stop.
What Happens If You Stop Taking Amoxicillin?
Ultimately, any medicine is prescribed because taking it is less harmful than the effects of the condition, and this is very much the case when it comes to amoxicillin and dental infections.
An abscess will not go away on its own, and there is a risk that it could get worse if left untreated. What makes this worse is if the infection spreads throughout your body, as can happen if you contract sepsis due to complications of the infection.
According to the UK Sepsis Trust, sepsis is a major life-threatening complication for pregnancy, particularly as pregnancy can place additional stress on your immune system.
As well as this, other complications such as swelling and airway blockages can affect your health and the life of an unborn child.
Because of this, a medication such as amoxicillin will often be significantly safer than opting not to take it and risking the spread of a disease, such as a bacterial infection.
Always seek and pay heed to medical advice when it comes to the use of medicines during pregnancy, and do not stop taking prescriptions unless you are advised to stop.
