Original ContributionsAntibioticsAntibiotic prescribing by general dentists in the United States, 2013
Section snippets
Methods
We identified oral antibiotic prescriptions dispensed during 2013 from the Xponent (QuintilesIMS) database. The Xponent database captures more than 75% of all outpatient prescriptions in the United States, reconciles them to wholesaler deliveries, and projects to 100% coverage of all prescription activity by using a patented projection methodology that is based on a sample of patient deidentified prescription transactions collected from pharmacies that report their entire pharmacy business to
Results
Dentists prescribed 24.5 million courses of outpatient antibiotics in 2013, a prescribing rate of 77.5 prescriptions per 1,000 people (Table). Dentists prescribed more antibiotics for female patients than they did for male patients in 2013 (female patients, 13.7 million; 85.2 per 1,000 female patients; male patients, 10.7 million; 68.9 per 1,000 male patients). Most antibiotics dentists prescribed were for adults older than 19 years; fewer than 10% of all antibiotics dentists prescribed were
Discussion
To our knowledge, we present the first broad description of outpatient antibiotic prescribing by general dentists in the United States, a critical first step to understanding how antibiotics are used in dentistry. Most antibiotic prescriptions were written for women, which is not surprising because results from previous studies have shown that women generally use health care services more than men.13, 14 When looking specifically at dental care visits, women aged 20 to 64 years had more dental
Conclusions
All health care providers who prescribe antibiotics have an important role to play in improving how antibiotics are used in the United States. This study provides a closer look at the specific antibiotics prescribed and geographic variability associated with antibiotic prescribing by dentists. However, additional studies looking more closely at antibiotic prescribing in dentistry are needed, especially in terms of adherence to updated prophylaxis guidelines. Also, identifying data sources to
Ms. Roberts is a public health analyst, Office of Antibiotic Stewardship, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30329.
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Ms. Roberts is a public health analyst, Office of Antibiotic Stewardship, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30329.
Dr. Bartoces is a statistician, Office of Antibiotic Stewardship, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Ms. Thompson is a student, Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work Experiential Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Hicks is the director, Office of Antibiotic Stewardship, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Disclosure. None of the authors reported any disclosures.
ORCID Number. Rebecca Roberts: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9246-283X.
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official positions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The authors acknowledge the Division of Oral Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Hunkler, MBA, (QuintilesIMS), and Natalia Chalmers, DDS, PhD (DentaQuest Institute), for their reviews and thoughtful comments on this manuscript.