Antibiotic prescribing for dental conditions: a community-based study in southern Italy

The aim of this study was to investigate for which conditions antibiotics are being used in community dental practice, and which clinical features represent the most common reason for an antibacterial approach to the treatment of dental conditions. The study was carried out from November 1998 to June 1999. Dentists were selected according to the different areas of southern Italy, from a list provided by the Italian Society of Dentists. Out of 87 selected dentists, 33 agreed to participate and filled in 1615 questionnaires for each therapeutic intervention ending with antibiotic treatment. Analysis of data indicated that alveolar-gingival abscesses were the most commonly treated infection, accounting for 23.6% of total treatments, followed by acute periodontitis (20.6%) and disodontiasis of the 3(rd) molar (18.5%). Parenteral antibiotics were chosen in 7.8% of cases. Penicillins were the most commonly used group, 40.1% of total treatments, followed by macrolides (30.2%) and cephalosporins (13.4%). Moreover, penicillins were widely used for post-surgery therapy (52.1%) and disodontiasis of the 3(rd) molar (50.8%), while macrolides were the most commonly used group for gingivitis (44.1%) and parodontal diseases (55.0%). The choice of parenteral antibiotics was related to severe general symptoms (odds ratios [OR], 4.4; 95% CI: 2.2-9.0), pain (OR, 2.7; 95% CI: 1.2-6.1) and lymphonodal involvement (OR, 6.4; 95% CI 2.7-15.1). In conclusion, our study demonstrates that antibiotic treatment is often based on the eradication of as many microorganisms as possible, and on the clinical assessment of the patients, rather than on any knowledge of the pathogens involved.