Should I be offered antibiotics?

Information for the public

Your dentist or doctor should talk about the risks and benefits of antibiotics with you, so that you can make the decision about what is right for you together.

You should not usually be offered antibiotics to prevent infective endocarditis if you are:

having a dental procedure
having an obstetric or gynaecological procedure (these are procedures on a women's reproductive system, or related to pregnancy and childbirth)
giving birth
having a procedure on the bladder or urine system
having a procedure on the oesophagus (the tube that carries food from your mouth to your stomach) or bowels (the tube that processes food and carries waste out of your body)
having a procedure on the airways, including ear, nose and throat procedures and bronchoscopy.

If you are having a medical procedure at the site of a suspected infection, for example, in your oesophagus or bowels or in your reproductive or urine system it is usual to be prescribed antibiotics before the procedure. If you are at increased risk of infective endocarditis, the antibiotics should be chosen so that they kill the bacteria that can cause infective endocarditis as well as other types of bacteria. This should help to prevent infective endocarditis as well as treating the suspected infection.

In the past, people at increased risk of infective endocarditis were offered antibiotics when they had certain medical or dental procedures. NICE recommends that people should not usually be given antibiotics before a procedure unless antibiotics are needed to treat a suspected infection at the site of the procedure. This is because medical and dental procedures are no longer thought to be the main cause of endocarditis, and taking antibiotics carries its own risk.