Antibiotic resistance is a global health problem

Thompson W, McEachan R, Pavit S _et al_. Clinician and Patient Factors Influencing Treatment Decisions: Ethnographic Study of Antibiotic Prescribing and Operative Procedures in Out-Of-Hours

and General Dental Practices. _Antibiotics_ 2020; DOI:10.3390/antibiotics9090575. PRESCRIPTION IN DENTAL PRACTICE OBSERVED. Observation of 76 appointments and 28 follow up interviews with

dentists, patients and dental nurses were carried out. Appointments which entailed an antibiotic prescription lasted up to 15 minutes. Appointments which involved a dental procedure lasted

up to one hour. Factors which influenced prescribing behaviour (n = 31) were categorised as capability (eg awareness, guidelines, habits, skills), motivational (eg beliefs, financial burden,

risk perception, patient safety) and opportunistic (eg competing demands, patient and peer influence). Previously unreported concerns of dentists included the lifetime impact of, for

instance, extraction in an emergency, the stress of running late, concern for patient safety and an inability to follow up treatment efficacy. Patient factors (n = 19) influencing treatment

decisions included costs, their antibiotic beliefs, delaying tactics, the views of peer groups and their feelings about dentistry. The reasons for prescribing antibiotics in an emergency,

rather than carrying out an operative procedure, are multifaceted. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Retired GDP/Clinical Teacher, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, UK Paul Hellyer

Authors * Paul Hellyer View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS

ARTICLE Hellyer, P. Antibiotic resistance is a global health problem. _Br Dent J_ 229, 473 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-020-2231-1 Download citation * Published: 09 October 2020 *

Issue Date: October 2020 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-020-2231-1 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link

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