Dentistry and Craniofacial Research

Antibiotics in dentistry - facts and trends in Germany

25^th International Conference on Dental Treatment
September 10-11, 2018 Zurich, Switzerland

Frank Halling

University of Marburg, Germany

Keynote: J Dent Craniofac Res

DOI: 10.21767/2576-392X-C3-007

Abstract

Introduction: Antibiotics alongside with analgesics and local anesthetics are the most frequently used drugs in dentistry. Reliably structured figures concerning the actual number of prescriptions of antibiotics by dentists are hardly available. Materials & Methods: All antibiotic prescriptions of dentists for patients who are members of statutory health insurances in Germany from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2015 were included. The annual reports of the scientific institute of the AOK, the biggest statutory health insurance in Germany, were used as data basis. The types of antibiotics, the number of prescriptions and the prescribed defined daily doses (DDD) were analyzed. The results were compared to antibiotic prescriptions of German physicians and to data of international studies. Results: During the period of investigation an average of 8.8% per year of all antibiotic prescriptions are issued by dentists. Between 2012 and 2015 the dental share on all antibiotics fell by 12.1% (p<0.05). The mostly prescribed antibiotic is amoxicillin, the share of which on all dental prescriptions increased from 35.6% in 2012 to 45.8% in 2015 (p<0.01). About three-quarters of all dentally prescribed DDD can be attributed to amoxicillin and clindamycin. On the part of the German physicians and compared to international studies the structure of the prescriptions is much more heterogeneous. Conclusion: Dental and medical antibiotic prescriptions in Germany show statistically significant differences regarding the types and the shares of the prescribed antibiotics. In the context of international studies on dental prescribing behavior the high proportion of clindamycin and the low share of metronidazole in Germany are noticeable.

Biography

Frank Halling has completed his MD in 1984 and DMD in 1986 in University of Marburg. He started his residency in Hamburg in 1988 and finished it in the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery at the University Clinic of Göttingen as Maxillofacial and Regional Plastic Surgeon. In 1993, he opened his private practice in Fulda (1994 and 2006 additionally as an attending physician). He specialized on Laser Dentistry in 1999 and Dental Implantology in 2000 and got the fellowship of the International Team for Implantology (ITI) in 2006. In 2008, he published a textbook on Dental Pharmacology. Since 2010 he lectures in Dental Pharmacology at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Marburg. He has held more than 200 specialist presentations and seminars and has published 30 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member.

E-mail: Dr.Halling@t-online.de