Biotechnological and Microbiological Approaches to Reducing Surgical Site Infections in Oral and Maxillofacial Procedures: A Public Health Perspective

Surgical site infection, antimicrobial resistance, bacterial pathogens, antimicrobial stewardship, public health

Dr. Ritam Chowdhury1*
Postgraduate trainee, Kalinga Institute of
Information and Technology, Bhubaneswar,
Odisha, India,
Email Id:chowdhury.ritam1997@gmail.com,
Orcid Id:0009-0005-4794-7765

Dr. M. Saravanan2
Reader, Department of Prosthodontics, SRM
Dental College, Ramapuram, SRM University,
Tamil Nadu, India, Email Id:
m.saravanan75@yahoo.com, Orcid Id: 00000002-7469-6632

Dr. Dipanshu Kumar3
Assistant Professor, Department of Dentistry
AIIMS, Gorakhpur, UP, India, Email Id:
drdipanshu.kumar@gmail.com, Orcid Id: 00000002-1346-8505

Dr. Rekha Anantharaman4
Microbial Research Lab, Department of
Obstetrics and Gyanecology, Saveetha Medical
College and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of
Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai
602105, Tamil Nadu, India, Email Id:
microrekha@gmail.com, Orcid Id: 0009-00099956-8803

Pavan Goud5
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery

Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and
Research Centre, Pimpri, Pune, 411018, India,
Email Id: pavangoud2323@gmail.com, Orcid
Id: 0000-0001-9132-3099

Dr. Aishwarya M U6
Lecturer, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial
Surgery, Specialization in Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery, Nitte (Deemed to be
University), AB Shetty Memorial Institute of
Dental Sciences (ABSMIDS), Mangalore,
India, Email Id: draishwarya.mu@nitte.edu.in,
Orcid Id: 0000-0002-7080-9484

Dr. Eluri Pratima7
MBBS, MD, Sr. Resident, Department of
Microbiology, Specialization in MDmicrobiology, Govt. Medical College,
Sangareddy, Email Id: epratima@gmail.com,
Orcid Id: 0009-0008-4668-5611

Received:19-06-2026
Revised:21-07-2026
Accepted:28-07-2026

European Journal of Prosthodontics and Restorative Dentistry (2026) 34(7s), 702–708

Biotechnological and Microbiological Approaches to Reducing Surgical Site Infections in Oral and Maxillofacial Procedures: A Public Health Perspective

Surgical site infections (SSIs) remain a significant cause of healthcareassociated infections and are increasingly complicated by antimicrobial resistance (AMR), resulting in prolonged hospitalization, increased healthcare costs, and adverse patient outcomes. Continuous microbiological surveillance and antimicrobial stewardship are therefore essential for effective infection prevention and control. This study aimed to identify the predominant bacterial pathogens associated with surgical site infections, evaluate antimicrobial resistance patterns, and examine factors associated with antimicrobial resistance using integrated secondary datasets. A quantitative retrospective secondary data analysis was conducted using two publicly available datasets comprising 2,648 records, including an Antibiotic Resistance Tracking Dataset (n = 2,200) and an Orthopaedic Surgical Site Infection Dataset (n = 448). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize pathogen distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, while Chisquare tests assessed associations between antimicrobial resistance and selected demographic and microbiological variables. Staphylococcus aureus was the predominant bacterial pathogen (48.2%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.4%) and Escherichia coli (12.1%). The highest resistance rates were observed for Cefexime (46.7%), Ceftriaxone (37.3%), Meropenem (34.3%), Ciprofloxacin (31.5%), and Vancomycin (29.3%). No statistically significant associations were identified between antimicrobial resistance and gender, age group, specimen type, or resistance gene category (p > 0.05), although resistance prevalence remained consistently high across all subgroups. Overall, the findings demonstrate the persistent burden of antimicrobial resistance among pathogens associated with surgical site infections and emphasize the importance of strengthening microbiological surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship programmes, and evidence-based infection prevention strategies to support sustainable public health and improve clinical outcomes.

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