Knowledge and Attitude of Antibiotic Prescription Among Dental Students in Najaf City, Iraq

Abstract

Dental practitioners regularly prescribe antibiotics for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes to manage oral and dental infections. However, inappropriate prescribing and excessive use of antibiotics are major factors in the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Materials and methods: Dental students at the college of dentistry at the University of Kufa were provided with a questionnaire consisting of ten questions regarding the daily practice of antibiotic prescription in dental practice. Result: 73.3% of the students couldn’t identify the most effective antibiotic for dental infection, 53.4% of them had good answer about antibiotic to avoid during pregnancy , more of half of the student had good answer for the antibiotic regarding renal diseases and 37.7% of them chose the write answer about antibiotic to avoid in liver failure, only 39.7 % of the student knew the true indication for antibiotic prescription and less of half of them (43.8) knew the antibiotic effective for beta lactamase enzyme bacteria, a high percentage of the students (72.3) could answer the question about indication for antibiotic prophylaxis and about half of them (49.7) could identify macrolides antibiotics, and about 58.9 of the students knew the most serious side effect of penicillin. Conclusion: The knowledge of dental students was varied regarding different questions, and more educational effort is needed to obtain better medical knowledge for Iraqi dental students.