Abstract
Objectives The objective of the study was to understand and analyze the prescription patterns of dentists across various demographic locations for managing oral infections and pain with antibiotics and explore the evidence-based practices by clinicians as well as the need for further education. Materials and methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out using an online questionnaire framed to explore the knowledge, attitude, and practices among dentists with varying levels of experience and qualifications, regarding antimicrobial prescription. The questions were validated from previous published studies that explored the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) with respect to antimicrobial prescription. In total, N = 300 of dentists from four different countries responded to the online questionnaire out of which 53% were specialists while 47% were general dentists. After data collection, descriptive analysis was carried out along with a one-sided hypothesis test to depict the power of the sample. Results It was seen from the results of the study that the first-choice antibiotics for 67.8% of dentists were found to be the β-lactam group while sulfonamides and tetracyclines at 20% were the second most prescribed group. Another important finding was that 45.6% of dentists ignored hypersensitivity testing before prescription of antibiotics even though 83.3% of the total dentists interviewed were aware of the increase in antibiotic resistance. Conclusion In conclusion, the dentists are partially aware of the guidelines but need further training and education on antimicrobial prescription that enables evidence-based decision-making for better practices and outcomes.
Highlights
Antibiotics have been used extensively for both treatment as well as intervention for managing 1.7 million severe sepsis infections occurring each year [1]
Since antimicrobial prescription is influenced by various factors like systemic disease condition and prophylaxis to tackle the antimicrobial resistance (AMR), majority of the research in past few decades were focused on AMR, isolating new infection causing pathogens and identification of diseases [2]
While antibiotics are essential for treatment of many infections, the inadvertent use of antibiotics by oral healthcare professionals has become a major cause of concern [4]
Summary
Antibiotics have been used extensively for both treatment as well as intervention for managing 1.7 million severe sepsis infections occurring each year [1]. Bacterial infections are seen commonly and treated frequently with antibiotics. It was seen in previously conducted studies that odontogenic infections account for almost 10 percent of antibiotic usage in a year [3]. Over the past few years because of the enhanced use of antibiotics, there has been a corresponding increase in AMR. There have been studies conducted on the use of antibiotics in the oral healthcare sector but the prescription practices across various regions have not been studied in detail. It was concluded that penicillins are most commonly used for the management of odontogenic infections, the increase in penicillin-resistant strains of bacteria has led to use of other antibiotics such as clindamycin [9]. The most common uses of antibiotics in dentistry are in relation to odontogenic and nonodontogenic infections, prophylactic management in patients at risk of or with preexisting systemic disorders, management of local infections, and postsurgery or extractions
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