Responsibility of the Dental Surgeon in Prescribing Antibiotic Therapy for healthy patients

Abstract

Antibiotics are among the most prescribed medications. However, study results indicate that 30% to 50% of prescribed antibiotics are not necessary or are not prescribed optimally. The prescription of medications in dental practice is provided for in law no. 5,081 of August 24, 1966, as pointed out in section II: “dental surgeons may prescribe and apply pharmaceutical specialties for internal and external use, indicated in dentistry. Therefore, based on the above, this article's main objective is to describe the responsibility of the dentist in prescribing antibiotic therapy. This is a study characterized as a narrative Literature Review. To construct this study, the following databases were used: PubMed, SciELO, LILACS – via Bireme. National and international works are included, in Portuguese, Spanish and English, from 2018 to 2023, with complete and available texts. With this, it was identified that the dentist assumes a responsible role in prescribing antimicrobials and must have extensive pharmacological and microbiological knowledge to avoid undue and unnecessary prescriptions. The recommendation is that these medications be used in cases of bacterial and fungal infections, and each case, pathology and microorganism involved must be respected to establish the correct therapy. In cases of prophylactic use, its main justification is in cases where the use of the medication is essential to improve the patient's clinical evolution.

Keywords: Antibiotic Drugs; Dental Surgeon; Prescription.