A Pilot Study to Investigate Antibiotic Prescribing in Private Dental Practice in the UK

This paper examines antibiotic prescribing by dental practitioners delivering private dental care in the UK. An online questionnaire utilising the online Surveymonkey tool was used to collate data on aspects of therapeutic and prophylactic antibiotic prescribing in private dental practice. In total, 53 private dental practitioners registered with Simplyhealth professionals (formerly DENPLAN Ltd) responded to this study. All respondents recognised that an elevated temperature associated with a dental infection requires a prescription of systemic antibiotics. Other reported indications for prescribing antibiotics, as an adjunct to definitive management of the cause, included gross diffuse swelling (50%), difficulty in swallowing (48%) or closure of the eye due to swelling (51%). The majority of respondents were found to prescribe the appropriate antibiotic at the correct dose, frequency and duration. Overall, private dental practitioners prescribed or dispensed fewer than six courses of antibiotics each month and just less than half the respondents did not audit their prescribing.
The results of this limited pilot study suggest that most dental practitioners providing private dental care prescribe appropriately and at lower levels than NHS dental practitioners. A definitive larger study of private dental practitioners antibiotic prescribing would be of value in determining their contribution to reducing the development of antimicrobial resistance.