Dental antibiotic use in British Columbia from 1996 through 2023: Are we backsliding?

Dentists in the United States and Canada have higher rates of prescribing broad-spectrum spectrum antibiotics than dentists in some other Western countries. The authors provide an overview of dental antibiotic prescribing trends from British Columbia, Canada.

The data include all prescriptions filed from pharmacies in British Columbia from 1996 through 2023. Dental antibiotic prescribing trends were explored visually and stratified according to patient-related characteristics, type of health service area, type of antibiotic, duration of therapy, and dentist's experience. Interrupted time series regression analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental antibiotic prescribing.

Dentistry accounted for an increasing proportion of overall antibiotic consumption in British Columbia. Dental prescriptions increased to a peak rate during the COVID-19 pandemic and remained elevated into 2023. The median duration of prescription converged toward a 7-day supply during the study period.

The authors documented how a decreasing trend in dental antibiotic prescribing prepandemic has been interrupted by means of continuously high rates after that event.

Renewed efforts to ensure appropriateness of dental antibiotic prescribing are needed.