Knowledge and perceived confidence regarding the prescription of antibiotics and analgesics among dental students – An institutional-based study

Objectives In this study, the objective was to assess dental students’ knowledge and perceived confidence in prescribing antibiotics and analgesics. Material and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 320 undergraduate and post graduate students of a university dental school. A pre-validated, self-structured questionnaire consisting of 30 closed-ended questions about dental students’ knowledge, practice, and confidence in prescribing antibiotics and analgesics was distributed to interns and third- and final-year graduate dentists via Google Forms. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to analyze the data, and the results were calculated. Results A total of 300 dental students were enrolled in the study. Most of them were women trying to get their bachelor’s degrees. Nearly 97% of them were aware of drug allergies, and 88% of them were aware of the emergence of antibiotic resistance. The most frequently reported mistakes by students were lack of knowledge of drug efficacy due to tablet size (only 35%) and color (only 13.5%). In spite of this, their knowledge and perception of their ability to prescribe drugs were adequate. Conclusion Among dental students, knowledge and confidence regarding prescribing the drug were statistically significant. The students were knowledgeable and level of confidence was good in drug prescription.