DT News - UK - BSDHT extends support for antibiotic awareness initiative

Dental Tribune International

Fri. 18 November 2016

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BELFAST, UK: This Friday is European Antibiotic Awareness Day. On this occasion, the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT) has announced it will again support the Thunderclap initiative, which was started by the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK) and the British Dental Association to heighten awareness of antibiotic use and prescription.

In order to do that, member practices are asked to take a pledge to audit their prescriptions when managing oral and dental infections. Their commitment will be communicated in an attention-grabbing “thunderclap”, a simultaneous post on the social media accounts of all those who signed up for the initiative, on 30 November at 5 p.m. UTC.

With antibiotic consumption in the UK steadily rising, alongside growing resistance to these drugs, the BSDHT believe the profession could be facing many future medical and surgical treatments, even basic ones, becoming fraught with danger.

“Dentistry now accounts for around 9 per cent of all antibiotic prescribing in the UK and the population’s growing resistance to these is becoming a serious threat to public health. As dental care professionals, we have a significant role to play in helping to slow down the development of this antibiotic resistance, and we are keen to highlight the problem,” BSDHT President Michaela O’Neill said.

She added: “Our members are in a position where we can influence decisions on antibiotics, and it is important that we stop and ask ourselves ‘are antibiotics necessary or could there be an alternative treatment with the same or better outcome?’ ”.

More information about the Thunderclap campaign are available here.

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