Background and study aims Although primary care dentists are generally aware of problems related to antibiotic resistance, in German dental primary care antibiotics are prescribed too often.
Qualitative open-ended interviews and group discussions with primary care dentists showed that there are multiple reasons. Uncertainty e. The DREAM trial will test an intervention that aims at optimizing the prescription of antibiotics in dental care.
Who can participate? Participating dentists will provide data on the amount of patients they take care of as well as on the number of antibiotics prescribed. All together, information on more than 46, patients will be included and scientifically analyzed. In addition, microbiological analyses will be performed within a subgroup of patients suffering from oral infections. These analyses will give insights into the level and development of microbial resistance.
What does the study involve? During three six-month periods of data collection, information on the number of patients and antibiotic prescriptions will be collected. After the first data collection period, dentists will be randomly allocated to the intervention or control group. Dentists of the intervention group will attend a training session that aims at optimizing antibiotic prescribing.
Dentists of the control group will provide care as usual. The antibiotic prescription rates of the two groups will be compared. Further, patients included in the subgroup of microbiological analyses will be asked to provide oral swabs at three different points in time. During a telephone interview, these patients will also be asked to provide information on the duration of treatment, the use of medical services, re-consultation, pain, and adverse effects related to antibiotic treatment.
