Knowledge and Attitudes of Clinical Dental Students in University of Benin Teaching Hospital to Prescription of Drugs

Objectives: Clinical dental Students often prescribe medications for conditions such as orofacial pain and infections. Thus, this study is aimed at the level of knowledge and attitude of University of Benin clinical dental students to prescription of drugs.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among clinical dental students in the School of Dentistry, College of Medical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City with a sample size of ninety-three. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Significant value was set at P < 0.5 Results: The age of the respondents ranged from 18 to 33 years with a mean age of 24.34 ± 3.5. A higher proportion of the respondents were male (50; 53.8%), majority were 600 level clinical dental students (36; 38.7%). The most common health condition treated in dental clinic was pain (n = 70, 75.3%); the most used painkillers were ibuprofen (n = 54, 58.1%), followed by paracetamol (n = 29, 31.2%). The most widely prescribed antibiotics were amoxicillin (n = 67, 72.0%) and ampicillin (n = 22, 23.7%). The most frequent errors reported by students were: lack of knowledge about drug posology (n = 32, 34.4%), improperly filled prescriptions (n = 28, 30.1%) and not knowing the brand names (n = 10, 10.8%). Most students get their information for prescribing drugs from their consultants (n = 30, 32.3%), registrars (n = 16, 17.2%), pharmacology books (n = 4, 4.3%). Only 29 students (31.2%) followed the WHO Guide to Good Prescribing.Conclusion: The findings from our study point to a deficiency in the dental students’ curriculum with regard to prescription of drugs. The knowledge of prescribing drugs is of utmost need for good dental practice and hence, it is essential to expand the knowledge related to pharmacological therapy and to know about the proper therapeutic guidelines.