Factors Influencing the Emergence of Antimicrobial Drug Resistance in Clinical Dental Practice

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the perception of general dentists regarding the over-prescription of antibiotics leading to Antimicrobial drug resistance in their clinical practice. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study encompassing a personalized Likert scale questionnaire on factors influencing anti-microbial resistance in dental general practices was conducted on 196 practitioners. The questionnaire inquired about different factors which tend to affect the over-prescription of antibiotics and influence anti-microbial resistance. It was piloted on 30 participants before dissemination. RESULTS: Factors showing the highest level of agreement were "lack of patient awareness regarding use of antibiotics" (96.9%), "over-the-counter availability" (95.4%), and self-medication" (95.4%). General dental practitioners were overprescribing in their clinical setup due to improper guidelines (24.4%), for their patient's satisfaction (21.2%), and lack of knowledge (19.2%).33.5% of them stated that patients reporting to them were self-medicating and 27.2% found that their patients had a lack of awareness. CONCLUSIONS: This study concluded that all the factors were responsible for the Antimicrobial Drug Resistance phenomenon in clinical dental practice. However, the majority of the dentists were over-prescribing antibiotics due to improper guidelines, lack of knowledge, and for the patient's satisfaction. KEYWORDS: Antimicrobial Drug Resistance; Awareness; Antibiotics; Dental General Practices; Over-the-Counter Drugs.