mGem: Dentistry is strategically positioned yet underleveraged in the battle against antimicrobial resistance

Dentists account for roughly 10% of global antibiotic prescriptions and maintain a substantial patient contact footprint. As a result, dentistry is strategically positioned in the global response to the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis, offering unique opportunities to impact antibiotic stewardship, AMR surveillance, and infection prevention. However, these opportunities are underleveraged because antibiotic stewardship is insufficiently emphasized in dental education curricula and competencies, and because dentistry is inconsistently integrated into AMR policy and national action plans. This disconnect perpetuates fragmentation in prescribing practices and weakens the alignment of dentistry with global One Health efforts. Furthermore, it leaves dentistry alienated from broader AMR research, funding, and educational frameworks. Specific integration of dentistry into AMR National Action Plans and implementation of unified, research-supported prescribing guidelines, targeted clinician education, and oral resistome surveillance could help transform dentistry from a blind spot to a fulcrum in the global AMR response.