SIGNIFICANT opportunities exist for dentists around the world to contribute to efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by changing their antibiotic prescribing, researchers believe.
A study of patterns of dental antibiotic prescribing in 2017, in Australia, England, the US and British Columbia (Canada), published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, found "dental antibiotic stewardship programs are urgently needed worldwide".
"Antibiotic resistance is a major public health burden driven by the unnecessary use of antibiotics," the authors said.
"Dentists contribute significantly to global antibiotic use and are responsible for an estimated 10% of all antibiotics prescribed to humans.
"High rates of dental overprescribing in relation to national guidelines have been identified in Australia, England, and the US.
"In 2017, wide variation existed in the patterns of antibiotic prescribing by dentists.
"The rate per 1,000 population in the US was twice that in Australia, which had the lowest prescribing rate.
"Although amoxicillin was the most prescribed dental antibiotic in all four countries, clindamycin was the second most prescribed dental antibiotic in the US and British Columbia compared to metronidazole in Australia and England."
The authors noted "concerning differences exist in patterns of dental antibiotic prescribing around the world", and recommended that there should be a shift in focus from broad-spectrum medications to narrower-spectrum antibiotics such as phenoxymythylpenicillin.
"The dental profession can also contribute to improvements in patient safety by minimizing the use of antibiotics associated with increased adverse drug reactions by reviewing guidelines, auditing compliance, and assisting in efforts to delabel people who identify as penicillin allergic," they said.
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