The prescription pattern and awareness about antibiotic prophylaxis and resistance among a group of Egyptian pediatric and general dentists: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Background The use of antibiotics in dentistry as prophylaxis and treatment is frequent. Their misuse has led to a major public health problem globally known as antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to assess the pattern of antibiotic prescription and its prophylactic use for systemic conditions. Besides, this study evaluated the awareness and adherence to antibiotic prescription guidelines and antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines along with awareness of antibiotic resistance across pediatric and general dentists. Methods An overall of 378 pediatric and general dentists meeting the required eligibility criteria, fulfilled a pre-designed validated questionnaire. Data were collected, tabulated, and statistically analyzed. Results A significant statistical difference was found among the pediatric and general dentists regarding antibiotics prescription for most of the oral conditions where Amoxicillin with clavulanic acid was the most frequently prescribed antibiotic among the two groups (53% pediatric dentist and 52% general dentist). The majority of pediatric and general dentists, on the other hand, were aware of antibiotic resistance and prescribing recommendations. Conclusions The present study showed a tendency to overprescribe and overuse antibiotics in certain dental conditions among the participants. The vast majority of dentists, especially general dentists do not have adherence to professional guidelines for antibiotics prescription in children despite their awareness of antibiotic resistance and prescription guidelines.

Evaluation of Post-Translation Control Mechanisms (Mirnas) In Type 1 Diabetic Patients with and Without Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy

“…Those findings were further supported by another study conducted among general and paediatric dentists in North Carolina, USA that revealed low adherence to professional guidelines by dentists for prescribing antibiotics for dento-alveolar infections of children [63]. Moreover, similar to an array of other studies [59][60][61][62], the commonly prescribed antibiotics in our study were amoxicillin and metronidazole followed by amoxicillin with clavulanic acid. Therefore, routine patient statistics of this nature provides valuable insights in resource constrained settings at institutional sub-unit level.…”

“…Antibiotics have revolutionized health care by preventing and controlling infections, however, since the era of penicillin the use of antibiotics has demonstrated a tremendous rise among medical and dental fraternities [59]. Accordingly, an overuse of antibiotics in dentistry in general and in paediatric dentistry [59][60][61][62] has been reported especially for the treatment of dento-alveolar infections among children [62]. Moreover, the same study revealed the majority of dentists especially those who had a high volume of child patients lacked adherence to professional guidelines for prescribing antibiotics for treatment of dental infections among children [62].…”

Study to Assess the Drug Consumption and Rationality in the Prescription of Outpatients Undergoing Periodontal Treatment

“…Ravichandran et al 17 , Kaul et al 18 and Suhaib et al 19 Agossa et al 20 26 documented that the most commonly prescribed antibiotic was Amoxicillin. However, according to Aly et al 27 Deniz-Sungur et al 28 Javed et al 29 and Shrestha et al 30 , the most often prescribed antibiotic was amoxicillin & clavulanic acid combination. Smith et al 31 found that amoxicillin was among the top antibiotics administered by dentists in England and Scotland.…”

Antibiotics Knowledge, Usage, and Prescription Patterns Among Dental Practitioners in Hyderabad, South India

“…In the last two decades, the use of systemic antibiotics has increased to a greater extent in dentistry, and it is still common in day-to-day practice. In the healthcare sector, 3% to 11% of total antibiotic prescriptions are from dentistry [6][7][8] to prevent infections. Dental infections are composed of different types of bacteria, such as gram-positive, gram-negative, and anaerobes [9].…”