Rationale of antibiotic therapy after surgical removal of asymptomatic impacted mandibular last molar

Aim: to determine the need of antibiotic therapy in reducing post-operative complications during surgical removal of asymptomatic mandibular impacted 3rd molar,methods: this prospective study was carried out at oral and maxillofacial surgery department,sandiman (provincial) civil hospital quetta from april 2013 to september 2013. the study consisted on 100 patients with impacted mandibular 3rd molar who were divided randomly in to two groups. group a was given two gram amoxicillin with clavulanic acid orally for 5 days. group b was given no antibiotic. post-operative complications like pain,infection,swelling,limited moth opening and alveolar osteitis was compared between the two groups. results: there was no any significant difference in the complications rate between the two groups. conclusion: the study showed that antibiotic don't have significant role in minimizing post-operative complications after removal of asymptomatic impacted 3rd molar.