Antibiotic Therapy in Oral Surgery: A Survey Among Italian Dentists

Objectives: Every oral surgery procedures involve the damage of the oral mucosa, causing the release of some microbial strains in the blood that may infect the surgical site and the distant organs creating infectious endocarditis (IE). The purpose of this study is to define the knowledge level of dentists in Abruzzo (Italy) about the scheme proposed by ACC / AHA in 2008 for IE prophylaxis and to identify the surgical procedures with antibiotic therapy and the regimen adopted by test dentists.
Methods: This cross-sectional study involves 93 dentists on 1000 initially recruited. Everyone was sent a questionnaire of 8 questions, essay questions and multiple choice, establishing the use of antibiotic prophylaxis during surgery, favourite molecule and posology. There was a question about the use of the scheme proposed by ACC / AHA in 2008 for IE prophylaxis. Finally, the questionnaire concluded trying to understand what led the clinician to use an antibiotic molecule rather than another.
The data collected were subjected to statistical analysis.
Results: 53.06% of dentists in this study carry out antibiotic coverage for all oral surgery, 24.30% use only amoxicillin and 21.50% in combination with clavulanic acid. Only 52.30% use the scheme proposed by ACC / AHA in 2008 for IE prophylaxis.
Surprisingly the favourite molecule is chosen in 30.25% for "clinical efficacy" and only in 15.97% for revision of scientific literature.
Conclusions: There is no awareness about the use of antibiotic therapy in oral surgery and about chosen molecule, so it is “empirically” always used, although it is not indicated in scientific literature.
Furthermore, only half of dentists in Abruzzo use prophylaxis protocol for bacterial endocarditis, involving a poor prognosis although it is rare. These data suggest how this topic should be stressed in Italian universities and in counting dental education programs.