Dentists Pressured to Overprescribe Antibiotics

Out of date guidelines and pressure from doctors and patients compel dentists to overprescribe

Dentists need to be included in the public health conversation regarding appropriate antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance.photog/Shutterstock

More than three-quarters of antibiotic prescriptions written by dentists before dental procedures are unnecessary and might do more harm than good, a new U.S. study found.

Dentists write one out of every ten antibiotic prescriptions in the United States, and despite national declines, antibiotic prescribing by dentists has held steady over the years, researchers wrote.

Dentists need to be included in the public health conversation regarding appropriate antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance, lead author Katie Suda of the University of Illinois, Chicago, told Reuters Health by phone.