Systemic administration of antibiotics is generally
recommended in order to prevent the harmful effects of
bacterial contamination, although the evidence to
support this is limited. Experimental animal studies
have reported that systemic antibiotics decrease the
incidence of inflammatory root resorption but have a
limited, or no, effect on the pulp.
Recent research has
focused on the effect of topical antibiotic therapy with
promising results in animal models. Topical doxycyline
and minocyline applied to the root surface before
replantation have been found to increase the chance of
pulp revascularization in dogs and to decrease the
chance of inflammatory root resorption and ankylosis
in monkeys.
The use of intracanal antibiotics and
corticosteroids immediately after replantation appears
to halt the progression of inflammatory root
resorption, although replacement resorption still occurs
to some extent.