Knowledge and Attitudes of Dental Students in Prescribing Antibiotics for Pediatric Dental Patients in Bhubaneswar City, Odisha: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Antibiotics are the most widely prescribed therapeutic agents in dentistry, hence it represents
an important aspect of dental practice. The inept use of antibiotics for the treatment of dental infections in
children is a leading cause of developing microbial resistance.
Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the knowledge & attitudes of a group of dental
students when prescribing antibiotics during the treatment of pediatric dental patients.
Method: This is a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study conducted in a group of 300 dental students
from various dental colleges of Bhubaneswar city, Odisha. The questionnaire consisted of closeended questions, structured under three main headings. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS statistics
version 24.
Results: The prime findings were that amoxicillin is the most commonly prescribed antibiotic, most students
had not received training on antibiotic prescribing and had treated more than 10 child patients per week &
their concordance with guidelines on antibiotic prescribing was generally low.
Conclusion: This cross-sectional study shows there is a need to improve the knowledge on antibiotic
prescribing for children.