Sir, the latest data published on NHS antibiotic prescribing by primary care dentists in England appears to show a 7% decrease on the previous year, with the number of items prescribed down to 1996 levels.1 This is good news from the perspective of antimicrobial resistance, with NHS dentists now responsible for 8.7% of all antibiotic prescribing in primary care.
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to health2 and it is recognised that antibiotic consumption drives the development of antimicrobial resistance.3 It would appear from this latest data that NHS dentists are doing their bit in tackling the problems of antimicrobial resistance.
However, this should not lead to complacency in antibiotic prescribing. Dentists should continue to embrace antimicrobial stewardship and prescribe appropriately in line with the guidance available by providing definitive clinical treatment for infections and where possible avoiding prescribing clindamycin, co-amoxiclav and cephalosporins.4,5,6
References
Health and Social Care Information Centre. Prescription cost analysis - dental data 2015. April 2016.
Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. Antimicrobial resistance: Tackling a crisis for the health and wealth of nations. The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance chaired by Jim O'Neill. December 2014. Available at: http://www.jpiamr.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/AMR-Review-Paper-Tackling-a-crisis-for-the-health-and-wealth-of-nations_1-2.pdf (accessed May 2016).
English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR) 2010-2014. Report 2015 Public Health England. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/espaur-report-reveals-continued-rise-in-antibiotic-resistant-infections (accessed May 2016).
Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (UK). Antimicrobial prescribing for General Dental Practitioners. Available at: http://www.fgdp.org.uk/publications/standardsindentistryonline.ashx.
Medicines Complete. British National Formulary 2016. Available at: https://www.medicinescomplete.com (accessed May 2016).
NICE. Antimicrobial stewardship: systems and processes for effective antimicrobial medicine use. NICE guidelines [NG15]. August 2015. Available at https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng15 (accessed May 2016).
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Palmer, N. Antibiotic prescribing: Embrace antimicrobial stewardship. Br Dent J 220, 499 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2016.355
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2016.355
