INTRODUCTION:Antibiotics are considered the most commonly sold drugs in developing countries. In India, these drugs are very much accessible without a prescription. This irrational and misuse of antibiotics results not only in the emergence of resistance of bacterial strains but also leads to adverse reactions.AIM:The aim of this study was to investigate the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of antibiotics usage among dental patients.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Study design: This study was a cross-sectional design; a prevalidated structured questionnaire comprising 24 questions was used.SAMPLE SIZE:Six hundred and ten patients visiting a dental hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, were included in the study.RESULTS:The dental patients involved in self-medication were more than 70%. 80.2% of the study group opted selection of antibiotics from their previous prescription from dental or medical professional. Adverse effects were faced by 7.8% of patients on taking self-medication. The study group was aware of the common dental procedures such as extraction and root canal treatment in which antibiotics were commonly prescribed. Half of the patients (53.8%) do not know the term antibiotic misuse, and 43.3% of the group opted antibiotic misuse to be unacceptable.CONCLUSION:The study revealed the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the patients about self-medication in the Indian scenario. There is need for health-care professionals and government bodies to enlighten the public about the harmful effects of self-medication with antibiotics to overcome the antibiotic resistance.

Elongated styloid may pose either Classical Eagle's or Stylocarotid syndrome leading to oro-facial pain. However, in patients of oro-facial pain, the investigation about the elongation of styloid process (SP) is not made routinely. Consequently, SP elongation is usually over looked as possible cause of symptom referral. Materials and Methods:In our study the various presenting symptoms were throat pain, ipsilateral otalgia and foreign body sensation in throat. Digital palpation of styloid process and accentuation of pain in tonsillar fossa, positive lignocaine test along with radiological demonstration of the elongation of styloid process confirm the diagnosis. Total of 30 patients were treated surgically by transoral Styloidectomy for oro-facial pain. All resected tonsils were subjected to histopathological examination.

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