A Survey on the Use of Antibiotics among the Dentists of Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Abstract

IntroductionDental infections are multimicrobial in origin with their etiological factors involving a combination of Gram-positive, Gram-negative, facultative anaerobes, and obligate anaerobic bacteria. Thus, antibiotics and analgesics account for a great majority of medicines prescribed by the dental surgeons. Inappropriate prescription of antibiotics by health care professionals has become a worldwide issue nowadays.AimThe purpose of the present study was to:• Determine the pattern of antibiotic prescription among dentists of Kolkata.• Assess the attitude of dentists toward antibiotic resistance.Materials and methodsAn electronic version of the questionnaire of cross-sectional survey regarding antibiotic use and attitude toward growing antibiotic resistance was constructed using Qualtrics (Qualtrics Pvt. Limited Provo, Utah), an internet online survey tool that was e-mailed to dental surgeons of Kolkata registered with Indian Dental Association (IDA), West Bengal. A reminder e-mail was given after 1 month to recollect the responses from them.ResultsThe survey was e-mailed to 300 dental surgeons, out of which 115 dental surgeons completed the survey, thereby achieving a response rate of 38.33%. Majority of the respondents (60%) chose amoxicillin in nonallergic patients. Average minimum duration of antibiotic therapy was 5 days. The drug of first choice for patients with an allergy to penicillin was erythromycin. The prime determinant of antibiotic use was facial swelling (68%). The prime determinant to select a particular brand of antibiotics was affordability of that brand (61%). Almost all (99%) dental surgeons were aware of antibiotic resistance being a growing concern. As per their views, there was overprescription of antibiotics.How to cite this article: Kaul R, Angrish P, Jain P, Saha S, Sengupta AV, Mukherjee S. A Survey on the Use of Antibiotics among the Dentists of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2018;11(2):122-127.

Antibiotic prescription patterns for treating dental infections in children among general and pediatric dentists in teaching institutions of Karachi, Pakistan

“…Similar trends are also observed in developing countries, where a substantial proportion of dentists prescribe antibiotics for non-indicated clinical conditions [26]. Regionally an indian survey on the use of antibiotics showed that there was over antibiotics endorsing in the absence of following any expert rules, which could be a precedent leading to the global issue of antibiotic resistance [27]. Most dental infections in children are bacterial in origin but only a limited number require antibiotics since most of these infections respond very well to operative procedures such as removing the source of infection and when antibiotics are needed, they are used as an adjunct to the operative therapy instead of been used as the only line of treatment [28].…”

Drug utilization patterns of antibiotics in outpatient department of educare dental hospital at Malappuram, Kerala, India

“…Azhithromycin does not find any role in oral infection because about 80% oral streptococci develop resistance to macrolides after a single cause. 12 So it was concluded that majority of dental cases are reported related to dental infections and Antibiotics were prescribed for dental abscesses, post root canal treatment, post dental extraction and after most minor surgical procedures. 13 Rational antibiotic use is thus required in dental and oral clinical practice, to ensure maximum efficacy while at the same time minimizing the side effects and the appearance of resistances.…”

Antibiotic Use in Periodontal Therapy among French Dentists and Factors Which Influence Prescribing Practices

“…Encouraging data from the NHS in the UK suggests that dentists responded well to AS and have reduced their antibiotic prescriptions more than in other fields of primary care between 2010 and 2017 [ 16 ]. While a number of studies have described dentists’ antibiotic prescribing patterns [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], a recent comprehensive review has pointed out the lack of data on the disease-specific use of antibiotics [ 31 ]. This information would be valuable in targeting appropriate areas of dental practice in antibiotic stewardship efforts.…”