A California congressman is pressing the country's largest dental and medical associations to warn clinicians about clindamycin, an antibiotic dentists still prescribe millions of times a year even though its label has carried a black box warning for more than four decades. Rep. J. Luis Correa, a Democrat from Orange County, wrote to the American Dental Association (ADA), the American Medical Association, the California Dental Association, and the California Medical Association, CIDRAP News reported. His letter, dated September 10, 2026, cited an earlier CIDRAP investigation and urged the groups to educate their members about the risks of inappropriate antibiotic use.
For patients, the issue is practical. Many people leave a dental visit with an antibiotic prescription, and few ask whether they need it. A 2019 study in JAMA Network Open, which analyzed insurance claims for adult dental visits from 2011 to 2015, found that about 81% of antibiotics prescribed to prevent infection before dental visits were unnecessary under existing guidelines.
