Drug prescribing practices in dental care patients at a dental and maxillofacial surgery clinic in Oman

Objective: To assess medications prescribed to patients attending the Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery clinic at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study covering a six-months period in 2018 (January-June) for all patients attending the Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery clinic at the hospital. Drug utilization data like drug name, type, route of administration, dosage frequency and Anatomical and Therapeutic Class were assessed. Results: The study covered 400 patients, of which (190, 47.5%) were males and (210, 52.5%) were females. A total of 88 different drugs were prescribed for the 400 patients. Only (140, 35%) patients were prescribed drugs for their dental conditions or for other comorbidities per visit and the rest (260, 65%) were not prescribed any drugs. The dentists prescribed drugs only in 29.0% (116) patients. The most common diagnosis was dental caries (177, 44.3%) followed by chronic gingivitis (15, 3.8%). The most common comorbidities in patients were anemia (45, 11.3%) and diabetes (21, 5.3%). The most common drugs prescribed were chlorhexidine mouthwash (43, 37.1%), paracetamol (36, 31.0%) followed by Ibuprofen (10, 8.6%), and Amoxicillin/Clavulanate (5, 4.3%). Conclusions: Drugs prescribing pattern in the Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery clinic was within the international norms. Sixty Five percent of the patients were not prescribed any drug by the dentist. Oral antiseptics, analgesics and antibiotics were the most common drugs prescribed by dentists.