Empirical use of antibacterial drugs by dentist in Ecuador

Abstract

Introduction: the empirical and extensive use of antibiotic prophylaxis is no longer an acceptable practice, but it continues to be a frequent problem, particularly among dentists. Objective: to investigate the empirical antibacterial drugs use by Ecuadorian dentists. Material and methods: a self-designed knowledge,attitudes, and practices survey consisting of 8 questions was applied face to face to 307 dentists from eight different cities of Ecuador (Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Santo Domingo, Ibarra, Loja, Manta and Portoviejo). Data was collected in an electronic database and then analyzed using GraphPad InStat. Results: of those dentists who completed the survey, only 32.9% of the dentists who completed the survey had a specialist’s degree. When treating an abscess, only 63.5% of the surveyed doctors mentioned drainage and endodontic treatment as a first step treatment. Those who pre-treated their patients used amoxicillin (35.7%); amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid (25.3%) and azithromycin (14.8%). Amoxicillin in a dose of 500 mg was applied only on 72.7% of the cases, while the dose of 625 mg of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid was prescribed on 64% of the patients. As far as dosage utilized by the professionals, only 62.6% indicated the drug to be taken every 8 hours. Finally, on the duration of treatment 85.4% of the treatments lasted seven days for the patients. Conclusions: overuse of antibacterial by Ecuadorian dentists represents an important problem that might be related to the development of bacterial resistance and an increase in attention costs. Implementation of treatment protocols might help, as well as, continuous training on antibacterial therapy use.