Introduction: Antibiotics play a key role in fighting bacterial infections. Dentists prescribe antibiotics for both prophylactic and therapeutic reasons. According to WHO, there has been an increasing occurrence of errors in antibiotic prescription globally. The majority of these errors occur in developing countries.

Objective: Present study was conducted to access knowledge and pattern regarding the antibiotic prescription of dentists associated with Universities/Hospitals in Sindh, Pakistan.

Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study, including multiple dental institutes. A validated custom-made questionnaire containing questions for accessing dentist knowledge and pattern of antibiotic prescription was used. The sample size calculated using OPENEPI was 160 with validated responses of 140. For statistical analysis of correlation and frequencies, SPSS ver 21.0 was utilized. Undergraduates, dental hygienists, and technologists were excluded from the study.

Result: the reported majority of dentists prescribe combination therapy of Amoxicillin + Clavulanic acid. Antibiotic was being prescribed for conditions including dental infections, swellings, pericoronitis, irreversible pulpitis, surgical extraction, periodontal diseases, and draining sinus. The majority preferred trade names when prescribing antibiotics and were well aware of drug resistance, and bacteria but were not prescribing antibiotic sensitivity and culture tests. Respondents were following ADA and NICE antibiotic prescription guidelines and were prescribing antibiotics for 5 days course.

Conclusion: Respondents know antibiotic prescription but fail to fully comply with established guidelines and believe self-medication is a major cause of drug resistance, bacterial.  Further studies on a larger scale will reveal interesting findings.

Keywords: Infections, Drug resistance, bacterial, Prescriptions

Abbreviations: ADA(American dental association),NICE(National institute for health and care excellence),WHO(World health organization),SEOM(Standard error of mean),NSAID(Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs),OTC(Over the counter),AAPD(American academy of paediatric dentistry)