DT News - UK - BDA praises dentists for prescribing fewer antibiotics

Dental Tribune UK

Wed. 14 November 2018

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LONDON, UK: In light of World Antibiotic Awareness Week running from 12 to 18 November, the British Dental Association (BDA) has commended British dentists for reducing the number of unnecessary antibiotic courses prescribed for patients. Figures from the latest report by the English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR) show that dental practices dispensed 23.9 per cent fewer prescriptions for antibiotics in 2017 compared with 2013.

The need to maintain the potency of existing antibiotics was highlighted in a report published last month by the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) in the House of Commons. The report outlined that antimicrobial resistance could kill up to ten million people per year by 2050 if current prescription trends continue. Given this dire outlook, the HSCC urged the British government to include antimicrobial resistance as a “top five policy priority” and called for a budget dedicated to making progress in this area to be established.

In the report from ESPAUR, it was noted that there had been a 13.2 per cent reduction in antibiotic prescriptions in primary care settings from 2013 to 2017. Though this reduction is cause for some optimism, ESPAUR warned of the major risk arising from the fact that no new classes of antibiotics have been discovered for decades because of market failure—pharmaceutical companies are concerned about the profitability of new antimicrobial drugs and investment in their development has therefore been limited.

“As the BDA has taken a lead on addressing antimicrobial resistance in dentistry, issuing a consensus report in May 2015, it is gratifying that statistics back up the fact that dentists are playing their part in reducing antibiotic prescribing,” said Dr Susie Sanderson, President of the BDA.

“However, the existential threat from antimicrobial resistance is so great that none of us can rest on our laurels. There is a whole range of fronts where we still need to secure progress to avoid inappropriate use of antibiotics in dentistry. Properly funded emergency treatment slots, and removing the pressures that push dental patients to general practitioners, are key to bringing down antibiotic prescribing,” she urged.

Sanderson said that “the BDA continues to lobby for reform of the dental contract to provide adequately funded time for the treatment of dental emergencies”.

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