Dental implant procedures contribution to the total antibiotic use in Swedish dentistry. A register-based study

Abstract

Objective

To study the influence of demographic and organizational factors to antibiotic utilization in dental implant surgery in Sweden.

Material and methods

Descriptive statistics regarding antibiotic prescription between 2009 and 2019 was retrieved from two national registers, the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register and the Dental Health register, both administered by the National Board of Health and Welfare.

Results

During the years 2009–2019 a significant decrease of the proportion of prescriptions of systemic antibiotics in conjunction with implant surgical procedures occurred in all patient groups where the most common procedure was the insertion of a single implant. The proportion of dental visits when implant surgical treatment was performed which resulted in a prescription of antibiotics decreased significantly from 1/3 to approximately 1/5. However, comparing Public and Private dental care providers, the reduction was significantly greater in Public dental care. Patients with low level of education in urban regions, treated in Private dental clinics were more likely to receive antibiotics in conjunction to implant surgery compared to other groups. Phenoxymethylpenicillin is the most widely used substance in conjunction with implant surgery.

Conclusion

There is still room for improvement in reduction of antibiotic prescriptions in conjunction to implant surgical procedures in Sweden.