Antibiotic prescription for the treatment of endodontic pathology: a survey among Lithuanian dentists

Objective. To describe a pattern of antibiotic prescription during root canal treatment procedures based on the reports of Lithuanian general dental practitioners.
Materials and methods. Questionnaires concerning endodontic treatment were sent to all 2850 Lithuanian dental practitioners registered on the database of the Lithuanian Dental Chamber. Only the questions containing general information and individual decisions about antibiotic prescription for endodontic treatment were selected for the analysis.
Results. The response rate was 53.8%. Of the 1532 responses, 1431 questionnaires received from licensed general dental practitioners were analyzed. More than 60% of the respondents reported prescribing antibiotics in cases of symptomatic apical periodontitis. Majority of the respondents (83.9%) reported symptomatic apical periodontitis with periostitis being a clear indication for the prescription of antibiotics. Nearly 2% of the respondents reported prescribing antibiotics in cases of symptomatic pulpitis. With an increasing duration of professional activity, an increase in the proportion of the respondents reporting prescription of antibiotics was observed. Amoxicillin was the most preferable antibiotic during endodontic treatment, followed by amoxicillin with clavulanic acid. An increase in reporting penicillin prescription and decline in prescribing amoxicillin and amoxicillin with clavulanic acid with regard to the increasing age of respondents was observed.
Conclusions. Lithuanian dentists, particularly those with longer duration of professional activity, tended to exceed general recommendations for the antibiotics prescription in cases of endodontic infections. However, a trend toward prescription of broader spectrum antibiotics by younger dentists, compared with those with longer professional activity, was observed.