Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28941554›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Dental Association (1939)2017

An evaluation of dental antibiotic prescribing practices in the United States.

Michael J Durkin, Kevin Hsueh, Ya Haddy Sallah, Qianxi Feng, S Reza Jafarzadeh, Kiraat D Munshi, Peter B Lockhart, Martin H Thornhill, Rochelle R Henderson, Victoria J Fraser and 1 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Dental Association (1939), 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
51citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
7.4field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

51 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 105 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  10. Costs-Outcome Description Arising From Side Effects due the Over-Prescription of Antibiotics in Oral Healthcare in Chile.Journal of oral pathology & medicine : official publication of the International Association of Oral Pathologists and the American Academy of Oral Pathology · 2025
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  17. How decisions are made: Antibiotic stewardship in dentistry.Infection control and hospital epidemiology · 2023
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Michael J Durkin
Kevin Hsueh
Ya Haddy Sallah
Qianxi Feng
S Reza Jafarzadeh
Kiraat D Munshi
Peter B Lockhart
Martin H Thornhill
Rochelle R Henderson
Victoria J Fraser
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epicenters
Washington University in St. Louis · USCarolinas Medical Center · USExpress Scripts Holding Company (United States) · USBoston University · US

Funding

WU INSTITUTE OF CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCESUL1TR002345 · NCATS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI William G. Powderly · 2017 to 2026
$97.8M
Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational SciencesUL1TR000448 · NCATS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI EVANOFF, BRADLEY A · 2012 to 2016
$41.4M
Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (KL2) KL2TR002346 · NCATS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI Dominic N Reeds · 2017 to 2026
$14.0M
Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational SciencesKL2TR000450 · NCATS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI EVANOFF, BRADLEY A · 2012 to 2016
$8.8M
ACL HHS U54CK000482NCATS NIH HHS KL2 TR000450NCATS NIH HHS KL2 TR002346NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000448NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR002345NCEZID CDC HHS U54 CK000482NCEZID CDC HHS U54 CK000609
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAntibiotic prescribing practices among general dentists and dental specialists in the United States remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to compare prescribing practices across dental specialties, evaluate the duration of antibiotics dentists prescribed, and determine variation in antibiotic selection among dentists.

methodsThe authors performed a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of dental care provider specialties linked to deidentified antibiotic claims data from a large pharmacy benefits manager during the 2015 calendar year.

resultsAs a group, general dentists and dental specialists were responsible for more than 2.9 million antibiotic prescriptions, higher than levels for several other medical and allied health care provider specialties. Antibiotic treatment duration generally was prolonged and commonly included broad-spectrum agents, such as amoxicillin clavulanate and clindamycin. Although amoxicillin was the most commonly prescribed antibiotic among all dental specialties, there was substantial variation among other antibiotics each specialty selected. The most common antibiotic treatment durations were 7 and 10 days.

conclusionsThis study's results demonstrate that dentists frequently prescribe antibiotics for prolonged periods and often use broad-spectrum antibiotics. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the appropriateness of these antibiotic prescribing patterns. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The clinically significant variation in antibiotic selection and treatment duration identified among all dental specialties in this study population implies that further research and guidance into the treatment of dental infections is necessary to improve and standardize antibiotic prescribing practices.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsCross-Sectional StudiesHumansPractice Patterns, Dentists'Retrospective StudiesUnited StatesAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntibioticsdentistryprophylaxistreatment

Identifiers

PMID28941554
PMCPMC5705569
OpenAlexW2754638130

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.