• Mothanna K AlRahabi and Ziad A Abuong.
• Department of Restorative Dental Science, College of Dentistry, Taibah University, Al Madinah AlMunawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. E-mail. mrahabi@taibahu.edu.sa.
• Saudi Med J. 2017 Aug 1; 38 (8): 852856852-856.

AbstractWe evaluated antibiotic prescription practices during root canal treatments among general dentists in private dental clinics in Al-Madinah Al Munawarah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A self-administered, questionnaire about antibiotic used during root canal treatment was distributed to 75 randomly selected general dental practitioners working in private dental clinics in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia, between March and April 2016. The questionnaires were collected one week later. To compare results of the collected data, Chi-square test was used.  Results: The results revealed that 60% of the dentists prescribed amoxicillin with clavulanic acid as the first choice treatment for endodontic pathosis. Clindamycin (51.6%) was the first choice for patients who were allergic to penicillin. Forty-five percent of the general practitioners prescribed antibiotics for 5 days. Approximately 83.3% of general practitioners prescribed antibiotics for acute apical abscesses. Prophylactic antibiotics were prescribed for cases with a history of infective endocarditis (65.5%), non-controlled diabetes (60.3%), placement of a prosthetic joint in the previous 2 years (46.6%), congenital heart disease (36.2%), and kidney dialysis shunts (34.5%). Conclusion: This study reveals antibiotic abuse in endodontic treatment practice in private dental clinics in Al-Madinah Al Munawarah, Saudi Arabia. General dental practitioners are lacking knowledge regarding the prescription of antibiotics in endodontic  treatment and situations requiring prophylactic antibiotics.

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