Current prescribing trends of antibiotics by dentists in Australia from 2013 to 2016. Part 1

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals.

The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by Paul Hellyer

Abstract

Improving antibiotic stewardship by dentists may help

Main

Teoh L, Stewart K, Marino RJ, McCullough MJ. Aust Dent J 2018; 63: 329–337

Overprescribing of antibiotics exposes patients to the risk of adverse effects, allergic reaction and unnecessary personal costs. At a societal level, overprescribing contributes to the development of antibiotic resistance with associated increased costs due to longer durations of treatment and higher mortality rates.

Dentists in Australia prescribe 3% of the total antibiotics dispensed in the country, less than in many other countries (9% in the UK, for instance), and on average write one antibiotic prescription per week. Numbers of prescriptions have fallen by 7% since 2013. Broad spectrum amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid accounted for 75% of prescriptions, followed by metronidazole (14%) and clindamycin (5%).

The research shows that dentists do not always follow the national guidelines for antibiotic prescribing. Optimising antibiotic stewardship by dental practitioners can usefully slow the worldwide problem of the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria.