Use of Corticosteroids Among Italian Dentists: Preliminary Results

Objectives: Glucocorticoids (GC) are commonly used in dentistry. The purpose of this study is to define the knowledge about this group of drugs among Italian dentists.
Methods: This study involves 30 clinicians of 50 initially recruited. Everyone was sent a web link with a questionnaire on SurveyMonkey.com of 5 multiple-choice questions about which kind of GC they prescribe more often, the reason, the pharmalogical form and when they chose using it, and finally what scheme (dose) they prefer.
Results: 70% uses betamethasone, 24% uses dexamethasone, 6% uses prednisone and no one uses methylprednisolone.
43% chooses the molecule because of their own empirical practice, 30% for habit, 17% for scientific literature and 10% beacuse of drug avaiability for the patient.
63% uses tablets, 17% intramuscular vials, 13% let the patient choose and 7% uses effervescent tablets.
40% gives GC only after included/semincluded teeth extraction, 30% like the previous one and in dental implants placement, 7% after every oral surgery, 3% only after implant placement and 20% chooses “other” specifing it.
The last question got many variations in dose, time of adminstration and step-wise reduction of dose.
Conclusions: Results reveal how different are the schemes and the knowledge of these drugs. The creation of a guideline based on an effectiveness validated by scientific literature would be advisable.