Abstract
To describe a pattern of antibiotic prescription during root canal treatment procedures based on the reports of Lithuanian general dental practitioners. Questionnaires concerning endodontic treatment were sent to all 2850 Lithuanian dental practitioners registered on the database of the Lithuanian Dental Chamber. Only the questions containing general information and individual decisions about antibiotic prescription for endodontic treatment were selected for the analysis. The response rate was 53.8%. Of the 1532 responses, 1431 questionnaires received from licensed general dental practitioners were analyzed. More than 60% of the respondents reported prescribing antibiotics in cases of symptomatic apical periodontitis. Majority of the respondents (83.9%) reported symptomatic apical periodontitis with periostitis being a clear indication for the prescription of antibiotics. Nearly 2% of the respondents reported prescribing antibiotics in cases of symptomatic pulpitis. With an increasing duration of professional activity, an increase in the proportion of the respondents reporting prescription of antibiotics was observed. Amoxicillin was the most preferable antibiotic during endodontic treatment, followed by amoxicillin with clavulanic acid. An increase in reporting penicillin prescription and decline in prescribing amoxicillin and amoxicillin with clavulanic acid with regard to the increasing age of respondents was observed. Lithuanian dentists, particularly those with longer duration of professional activity, tended to exceed general recommendations for the antibiotics prescription in cases of endodontic infections. However, a trend toward prescription of broader spectrum antibiotics by younger dentists, compared with those with longer professional activity, was observed.
Highlights
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a serious public health problem
Majority of the respondents (83.9%) reported symptomatic apical periodontitis with periostitis being a clear indication for the prescription of antibiotics
Only the questions containing general information such as respondent’s age, duration of professional activity, their practice location as well as questions related to individual decisions about antibiotic prescription in dental practice were selected for analysis
Summary
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a serious public health problem. A major contributing factor for the development of this problem is the excessive use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture. Evidence exists that the resistance of oral microflora to antibiotics has increased during the past decades [1,2,3]. Overuse of antibiotics in dental practice has been observed [4,5,6,7,8]. Remarkable differences in the use of systemic antibiotics as well as in the antimicrobial drug resistance of human pathogens exist among different countries [9, 10]. According to the data of the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC), the highest consumption rates of antibiotics are found in the southern and eastern European countries, whereas in the north Europe and Russian Federation it is much lower [10]. A trend in the increased prescription rates of some antibiotics during the past years has been observed [11]. The administration of antibiotics by family doctors was considered being irrational in most of the studied cases [12]
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