Survey on trends in the use of antimicrobial agents in dental practice among 18 dental colleges and university hospitals in Japan

Abstract

In an effort to survey antimicrobial agents actually used in dental practice, a multi-institutional study was conducted on the consumption and share of antimicrobial agents as classified by chemical structure and dosage form. The study involved 18 dental colleges or university hospitals in Japan, and consisted of two parts, investigation of the share of antimicrobial agents used in a 10-day period, excluding Saturday and Sunday, April 6-17, 1998 and categorization of antimicrobial agents used over a 6-month period October 1997-March 1998.
Antimicrobial agents accounted for 25.5% of all oral medicines, and ranked second just behind antiinflammatory and analgesic drugs which accounted for 29.9%. The order of share in descending frequency was cephem series including cefaclor, cefdinir, and cefuroxime axetil ; and penicillin series including lenampicillin and amoxycillin. Injectable antimicrobial agents were used in 79% of patients given injectable forms. The breakdown is as follows : penicillin series, 50% ; cefem series, 43% ; and others comprised of fosfomycin, aminoglycosides and tetracycline series, 7 %.
Cephem and penicillin preparations were found to be the most commonly used antimicrobial agents not only in dental practice but also in dental colleges and university hospitals in Japan.