Prescribing antibiotics in an urgent dental care service during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction There was a notable increase in dental antibiotic prescribing during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, the dental and maxillofacial department at East Surrey Hospital opened an urgent dental care service to adapt to demands placed on community services. There were also growing concerns around antimicrobial resistance, initiating an investigation of the use of antibiotics, which continues to be a vital public health issue. The aim of this audit was to assess the compliance of antibiotic prescribing with Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme guidance as well as evaluating the adequacy of record keeping. Methods AData were collected retrospectively from all patients triaged by the East Surrey Hospital urgent dental care service between 8 April and 24 July 2020. The Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK) antibiotic prescribing audit tool was modified and used for data collection and analysis. Results A total of 335 patients were triaged while East Surrey Hospital operated the urgent dental care. During this period, 38 patients were prescribed antibiotics (which was a 17% decrease compared with the same time period during 2019). Twenty-seven of these patients had prescription records that were clearly legible and so were included in our audit. There was 74% compliance with the gold standard in appropriate antibiotic prescribing. Conclusions The majority of the antibiotic prescriptions authorised by East Surrey Hospital were deemed compliant with national guidance. It is reasonable to consider interventions for greater compliance with the gold standard in order to maintain high quality care for patients. Appropriate use of antibiotics is mandatory to prevent future antibiotic resistance.