Dental students’ knowledge for prescribing antibiotics used for treatment of periodontitis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15218/zjms.2013.0050Keywords:
prescription errors, antibiotic prescribing, periodontitisAbstract
Background and objective: Although antibiotics along with analgesics are commonly prescribed medications by the dentists, little is known about the knowledge and understanding of dental practitioners concerning its use in every day clinical practice. Prescription errors are very common and this may be due to medical students are not adequately instructed. This study was done to investigate dental students’ knowledge of prescribing antibiotics to see if they are competent to prescribe rationally at the point of graduation.
Methods: A questionnaire was devised to investigate the dental students’ knowledge for prescribing antibiotics. Students at their final year of graduation (2010) included in this study. A structured questionnaire was filled at the College of Dentistry/HMU.
Results: Most of the antibiotics prescribed were at the correct doses and dosage form but there was variability in the frequency of dosing and duration of therapy. Four different antibiotics were prescribed in this study, these were amoxicillin (74.63%), metronidazole (5.97%), tetracycline (2.99%) and erythromycin (1.49%).
Conclusion: A continuous education on the rationale use of antibiotics in dental infections is required and this would be better when integrated with its application in the clinical practice. Prescribing guidelines are required to improve the prescribing patterns of antibiotics by dental students so they will be competent to prescribe correctly and responsibly at the point of graduation.
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