It is common and accepted medical practice that the chemoprophylaxis-use of antibiotics could prevent or reduce the incidence of transient bacteremia after tooth extraction which might be a possible source of infective endocarditis (IE) .
This study was carried out to determine the acceptance and knowledge of chemoprophylaxis of IE by general practitioners.
Questionairres were mailed to 900 dentists in Fukushima Prefecture, and 202 were eligible for this study. The results were as follows: Most of the dentists understood the importance of antibiotics use for prevention of IE. However, since no approved official regimen have been published in Japan, the answers for usage of antibiotics by dentists varied and tended to be insufficient. It is considered necessary to establish a proper guideline for prevention of IE, which is more suitable for Japanese.