Dentists' knowledge and implementation of the 2007 American Heart Association guidelines for prevention of infective endocarditis

Current prescribing Practices for Antibiotic Prophylaxis: A Survey of Dental Practitioners

“…21,32,33 Overall, dentists in our study appear to be knowledgeable in regard to when it is appropriate to prescribe antibiotic prophylaxis for high-risk patients undergoing invasive dental procedures, such as extractions, periodontal probing, scaling and root planing, and dental prophylaxis. Tong et al 26 and Zadik et al 27 found similar findings stating that these procedures were clearly invasive and the dentists in their studies agreed that the patients should be covered by antibiotic prophylaxis if they were at risk for infective endocarditis. However, more than half of the dentists in this study were not prescribing antibiotic prophylaxis for laser periodontal therapy that could be considered invasive.…”

“…27,29 According to the 2007 AHA guidelines, these cardiac conditions no longer need to be covered prophylactically with antibiotics before dental treatment. However, some dentists in our study continue to prescribe antibiotic prophylaxis for these low-to moderate-risk cardiac conditions.…”

“…[23][24][25][26][27][28][29] Lauber et al 23 surveyed Canadian dentists and family physicians and found that dentists were more familiar with the 2007 AHA antibiotic prophylaxis protocols than physicians in selecting the correct "first-line" antibiotic for prophylaxis. Jain et al 24 found that the majority of Canadian dentists (89.2%) and dental hygienists (89.9%) deferred antibiotic prophylaxis prescription decisions to the patient's cardiologist.…”

“…However, 30.2% of the dentists reported their prescribing practices were based solely on the patient's cardiologist's recommendations. 26 Zadik et al 27 surveyed Israeli dentists and found that the majority of dentists (81.3%) identified the cardiac conditions that require antibiotic prophylaxis. However, 42% of the dentists stated they would prescribe antibiotic prophylaxis for patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) with regurgitation, which implied that some Israeli dentists were still following the 1997 AHA guidelines.…”

“…However, 42% of the dentists stated they would prescribe antibiotic prophylaxis for patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) with regurgitation, which implied that some Israeli dentists were still following the 1997 AHA guidelines. 27 Coutinho et al 28 examined the knowledge and practices of dentists in preventing infective endocarditis in children. Of the 21 dentists, 33% stated they followed the 2007 AHA antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines.…”