Assessment of Knowledge and practice of 66 general dental practitioners about prescribing of medication in Kerman

Analgesics, antibiotics, local anesthetics and mouthwashes are among the most common medicines which are prescribed by dentists. The aim of this research is evaluation of the knowledge and practice of general dental practitioners about mentioned medicines in Kerman. Methods & Materials: This study was a descriptive, cross – sectional survey. We constructed a questionnaire that included demographic, knowledge and practice sections. The questionnaire was prepared based on valid references. After determining of validity of questionnaire it’s reliability was confirmed by means of a test- retest exam. The questionnaires were distributed to 66 general dental practitioners. 68.2% of the study group were men and 31.8% were women. The mean age of the study group and the duration after graduation time were 37.5 and 10.6 years respectively. The results showed that the mean knowledge score of the dentists was 5.38 out of 8. The knowledge was significantly decreased with increasing of age and the duration after graduation time (r = -0.32, P< 0.05). According to the results of the present study, the study population has a reasonable knowledge about common medicines used in routine dental practices. However the present study shows that information should be given to the dentists about selection of analgesics and antifungals and the duration of antibiotic therapy in oral infections. In addition, the knowledge of dentists should be increased about the Citanest (a local anesthetic) and the necessity of doing skin test before injection of Penicillin.