Attitudes of dental implantologists in Spain to prescribing antibiotics, analgesics and anti-inflammatories in healthy patients

BACKGROUND: The implantologists frequently prescribe antibiotics, analgesics and anti-inflammatories in dental implant surgery. The aims of this study were to evaluate the attitudes of implantologists in Murcia (Spain) to prescribing antibiotics, analgesics and anti-inflammatories in healthy patients during different implant dentistry procedures, and to see how these are influenced by individual dentist’s academic level, professional experience, and ongoing training (attending courses or reading scientific literature on medication use) MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included a total of 200 implantologists from the Murcia area (Spain), who each completed a two-page questionnaire consisting of 26 questions. RESULTS: The implant procedure in which most dentists (n=97) prescribed antibiotics was multiple implant surgery with flap raising, in which 55.6% of these 97 respondents used a prophylactic antibiotic regime for 7 days after implant placement. All subjects (n=200) prescribed analgesics for eight out of the eleven procedures included in the survey and anti-inflammatories in six. Dentists with higher academic levels or longer professional experience prescribed more antibiotics, but those who underwent continuous training (attending courses or reading scientific literature) reduced antibiotic prescription. CONCLUSIONS: Dentists often prescribed antibiotics, analgesics and anti-inflammatories in almost all implant procedures in healthy patients, but ongoing training reduced the frequency of antibiotic prescription in some procedures. Key words:Antibiotics, analgesics, anti-inflammatories, dental implant, oral surgery.