Method: A self designed knowledge, attitudes and practices survey consisting of 8 questions was applied face to face to 350 dentists from five different cities of Ecuador (Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Loja and Santo Domingo). Data was collected in an electronic data base and then analyzed using the GraphPad Instant.
Result: : From those dentists who completed the survey, only 40% got a specialists degree. All of them mentioned drainage and endodontic as first step. Only 35% of them pre-treated patients and amoxicillin alone or plus clavulanic acid was the agent chosen. Dose of amoxicillin were 250 mg (20%), 500 mg (40%) or 1 g (40%) and were prescribed either each 8 h (60%) or 12 hs (40%). Treatment duration was less than 7 days only in 20% of the cases (average three days). Those dentists treating patients after drainage and endodontic used amoxicillin combined either with metronidazole or ciprofloxacin.
Conclusion: Overuse of antibacterial by Ecuadorian´s dentist represents an important problem that might be related with development of bacterial resistance and increase in attention costs. Implementation of treatment protocols might help, as well as, continuous training on antibacterial therapy use.