Study On Drug Utilization Pattern in Dental Department of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital: A Prospective Study

Dental problems are very common in all the ages. But at the age progress, dental related issues are increasing. The present study was carried out for the first time in our hospital dental department with the objective to know the drug utilization pattern in the dental department. A prospective and observational study was conducted in 250 patients from October 2014 to March 2015. Relevant information was obtained from the interview as well the treatment chart of patients, by using a case report form. The present study shows the majority of the patients entered in the study were males (52.4%). Among the study population, most were belonging 31-35 years' age group (16%). Housewives (25.6%) secondary level of literates (32.8%) and smokers (11.2%). The most common dental diseases were periodontitis (38.8%) and apical periodontitis (29.6%). Analgesics (80.8%) and antibiotics (52.4%) were the most commonly prescribed drugs in our study. Among patients (131) prescribed with antibiotics, 45 patients received a minimum of one antibiotic and 86 patients received more than one antibiotic but not necessarily at the same time. Most commonly prescribed a class of antibiotics was Penicillins in combination with beta-lactamase inhibitors followed by Nitroimidazoles. Analgesics were prescribed in 80.2% of the study population. Routinely used analgesics were diclofenac in combination with paracetamol (38.4%) and Aceclofenac in combination with Paracetamol (34%). Antacids were prescribed in 12.8% of the study population. Ranitidine was the most commonly prescribed antiulcer agent. A total number of 71 oropharyngeal preparations were prescribed, of this Chlorhexidine mouthwash (43) and toothpaste (15) were more frequent. Among the entire study population, only four patients (1.6%) were provided for with multivitamins. In this present study only 14 (5.6%) patients had drug-drug interactions of mild severity. The enrolled patients were not aware of dental disorders, but only 26.4% of patients following oral hygiene measures. This study clearly showed that prescribing pattern of drugs (antibiotics, analgesics, antacids etc.) needs to be continuously evaluated even in dental diseases in order to promote the more rational prescribing, decrease morbidity and cost of therapy for the patient.