Understanding How Future Dentists Learn to Prescribe Antibiotics
The Global Challenge of Unnecessary Antibiotic Use
Antibiotics are essential medications used to treat bacterial infections, but their widespread overuse contributes to the global challenge of antibiotic resistance, making common infections harder to manage. In healthcare, dental practitioners contribute noticeably to overall antibiotic use, accounting for approximately 10% of all prescriptions worldwide. According to previous data cited by researchers, up to 90% of these dental antibiotic prescriptions might be unnecessary.
To understand how prescribing habits develop during clinical education, an exploratory cross-sectional study evaluated the knowledge, attitudes, and reported prescribing practices of dental students during their clinical training years.
How the Study Was Conducted
The study surveyed 2,168 clinical-year dental students across ten Arab nations: Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The researchers used convenience sampling, a survey method that recruits accessible participants within the target population.
To understand which elements most strongly influenced prescribing behaviors, the researchers applied hierarchical multiple regression. This statistical technique examines how much additional variance in an outcome—in this case, inappropriate prescribing practices—is explained when new groups of variables are added step by step.
Key Factors Influencing Prescribing Choices
The researchers assessed the influence of student background, access to resources, knowledge, and personal attitudes through four analytical steps:
- Demographics: In the first step, demographic variables explained 6.1% of the variance in prescribing practices. Within these variables, being a female student, being a dental intern, and studying in a middle-income country were associated with lower rates of inappropriate prescribing.
- Access to Guidelines: In the second step, adding access to clinical antibiotic guidelines significantly increased the explained variance to 24.5%. This indicates that having clear, accessible prescribing references is strongly associated with better clinical decisions.
- Knowledge and Environmental Awareness: In the third step, the inclusion of actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, and environmental awareness raised the explained variance to 33.2%. Interestingly, perceived knowledge—how much students believed they knew (beta = -0.392)—showed a stronger statistical association with appropriate prescribing than actual tested knowledge (beta = -0.092).
- Attitudes and Confidence: In the final step, adding measures of student attitudes and confidence made a small additional contribution, bringing the total explained variance to 33.7%. Holding more favourable attitudes toward responsible antibiotic use was significantly associated with reduced inappropriate prescribing (beta = -0.149).
Study Limitations
When evaluating these findings, several limitations should be noted:
- Study Design: The cross-sectional design means data was gathered at a single point in time, showing statistical associations rather than demonstrating direct cause-and-effect relationships.
- Sampling Technique: The use of convenience sampling means the participant group may not fully reflect all dental students across the ten surveyed countries.
- Self-Reported Data: The findings rely on self-reported survey responses from students in training rather than audited prescription records from independent clinical practices.
What This Means for Patients
Patients visiting a dental clinic may sometimes wonder why an antibiotic is not routinely prescribed for dental discomfort or swelling. Many dental issues require direct procedural care rather than medication.
This study highlights that clear clinical guidelines, proper training, and responsible attitudes during dental education are key factors in reducing unnecessary prescriptions, helping preserve the long-term effectiveness of these important medicines.