Drug prescriptions performed by dentists – cross-sectional study

Vol. 10 – Number 40 – 2019 CLINICAL DENTISTRY BOOKLET Original article / Original article Page 105-114 Drug prescriptions performed by dentists – cross-sectional study Karolina Parry Amorim Silva¹ Augusto Mateus Freitas Lopes¹ Francisco de Assis de Souza Júnior² Janaína Cavalcante Lemos³ Summary The objective of this research is to analyze information on the prescriptions of medications by specialist dental surgeons and general practitioners, in the groups of the following medications: analgesics, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. This cross-sectional study was carried out in January and February 2018, and the sample consisted of 100 dentists from the city of Natal/RN, of both genders, both specialists and general practitioners from the public and private services. They answered a questionnaire about their prescriptions and, through them, some results were obtained. The sample was composed of an age range of 24 to 69 years, by the majority of specialist dentists, working in the public service, with more than 10 years of graduation, of which 83% prescribe drug therapy every day or between 1 and 3 times a week. The interviewees have a preference for dipyrone, nimesulide, dexamethasone and amoxicillin. However, despite the frequency of prescriptions from these professionals, 81% of inadequate posologies were observed in analgesics. In this sense, the present study showed that dentists are professionals who need drug therapy in their daily lives, but many are not fully qualified for this, being responsible for a high percentage of medication errors both in indications and posologies. Descriptors: Prescriptions, medication errors, medication prescriptions.   1 CD – Universidade Potiguar – UnP. 2 Me. in Dentistry with concentration in surgery – UFRN, Prof. – UnP. 3 PhD in Oral Pathology – UFRN.