Characterization of drug prescribing practices among dentists in Kerman province, 2001

Inappropriate drug prescription by health professionals is common, even in developed countries. Since there was no report on pattern of dentist’s drug prescription in Iran. This study was conducted to evaluate the characterization of drug prescribing practices through one year period in Kerman province. Methods & Materials: This study was a cross – sectional analysis of 850 prescriptions which were randomly selected from 10500 dentists prescriptions in treatment Insurance organization of Kerman province in four seasons of 2001. Then 210-215 prescriptions for each season were analyzed for age and gender of the patients, drug category, name of the drugs, and the route of administration. There were no significant differences between the age and sex of the patients admitted by dentists in Kerman province in 2001. The mean number of drugs per prescription was 2.030.64 in Kerman province. Most of the prescribed drugs (81%) were administered orally. Antibiotics (82.2%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (62%) and analgesics (32.7%) were the most frequently prescribed drugs. Amoxicillin (50%) was the most common antibiotic, and Ibuprofen (34.3%) and Mefenamic acid (26.5%) had the highest frequency of administration among NSAIDs prescribed by dentists. The results of this study showed that dentists in Kerman province had good prescribing performance about the number of drugs per prescription, but antibiotics and NSAIDs prescription rates were much higher than other reported studies. This issue may reveal the need for a change in prescribing pattern of dentists.Keywords: