ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTION FOR ACUTE DENTAL CONDITIONS IN THE PRIMARY-CARE SETTING

To determine the pattern of antibiotic prescribing (source and type) f or acute dental conditions in the emergency setting, a prospective cro ss-sectional study was undertaken of 500 consecutive new patients atte nding the examination and emergency clinic of the Cardiff Dental Hospi tal in May 1994. The source and type of antibiotics prescribed, the na ture of complaint and type of antibiotic prescribed in the primary car e and dental hospital setting were recorded. Antibiotic prescription w as a feature of the treatment of 30% (149/500) of patients. The 60 pat ients who had received emergency treatment prior to attending the hosp ital emergency clinic had been prescribed a total of 14 different type s of antibiotics; 41% of these patients had sought treatment from gene ral medical practitioners. Antibiotics were frequently prescribed with out generally accepted criteria and there was wide variation in prescr ibing. Overall, only seven different types of antibiotics were prescri bed in the dental hospital setting. The use of second generation antib iotics was more common in general practice than in the dental hospital . The results suggest that many patients with dental pain may seek tre atment from medical practitioners, prior to, or in place of, definitiv e dental treatment. In summary, rationalisation of antibiotic prescrip tion and the provision of emergency dental treatment is needed.