Antibiotic prescribing for dental conditions: general medical practitioners and dentists compared.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the level of prescribing and types of antibiotics prescribed for dental problems by general medical practitioners and dentists.


METHODS
Secondary analysis of standard consultation data and prescription records from four different settings.


METHODS
30 participating general practices in the General Practice Morbidity Database for Wales in 1996.


METHODS
1,185 attendances for tooth-related problems, at 30 participating practices in the General Practice Morbidity Database for Wales in 1996. Standard consultation records from a GDP emergency dental rota, and two weekend emergency dental clinics: one in a health centre, the other in a dental hospital.


RESULTS
More than two thirds (68%) of attendances at general medical practices for tooth-related problems resulted in a prescription for antibiotics. In contrast less than a third (28%) of patients seen by a GDP rota, about half (52%) of patients at a weekend emergency clinic in a health centre, and just more than a third (38%) of patients attending the dental hospital clinic received antibiotics. General medical practitioners were also more likely to prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics than dentists.


CONCLUSIONS
For acute dental problems general medical practitioners are more likely to prescribe antibiotics than dentists. There also appear to be inter-professional differences in the tendency to prescribe broad spectrum antibiotics. Initiatives to rationalise prescribing for dental conditions may need to target doctors as well as dentists.
Anderson
R
R
Department of Oral Surgery, Medicine and Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff.
Calder
L
L
Thomas
D W
DW
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003149:Community Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019992:Databases as Topic; D003796:Dental Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014852:Wales
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents