Knowledge and Practices of Dentists Regarding Antibiotic Prescription In Medically Compromised Patients Undergoing Dental Treatment

Abstract

To find the association of level of knowledge and practice of dentists regarding antibiotic prescription in medically compromised
patients undergoing dental treatment. A Cross sectional descriptive study was conducted on dental practitioners of Sharif Medical
and Dental College, SMDC, Lahore, Pakistan from June 2019 to June 2020. Data was collected from 150 dental practitioners
using a validated questionnaire after obtaining informed consent. A statistically significant association between level of
knowledge of dentists and trend of antibiotic prescription in extraction (p=0.003) and root canal treatment (p=0.050) in
hypertensive patients, extraction in patients with Myocardial Infarction (p=0.017), extraction (p=0.023) and root canal treatment
(p=0.015) in patients with Infective endocarditis and scaling (p≤0.001), extraction (p=0.036) and root canal treatment (p=0.017) in
liver failure patients. The association between level of practice and antibiotic prescription trends for root canal treatment in
patients with Infective Endocarditis was found to be significant (p=0.026). Predominantly dentists with good level of knowledge
as well as practices reported that antibiotics should be prescribed to patients undergoing extraction of teeth among which most
recommended prescription in patients with Infective endocarditis followed by diabetes then Myocardial infarction and prosthetic
heart valves, kidney transplant patients, hypertensive patients while the least recommended them for live failure patients.