Upon completion of this course, the dental professional should be able to:
- Understand the current evidence-based consensus recommendations about prescribing patterns for urgent pulpal and periapical-related dental pain and intraoral swelling.
- Assess the comparative effectiveness of different antibiotic drugs and prescribing directions in common clinical scenarios of acute dental pain and intraoral swelling.
- Review current dental and medical antibiotic prescribing patterns in the U.S. and worldwide.
- Assess emerging patterns of multi-drug resistance in bacteria and their effect on the healthcare system as a whole.
- Evaluate patients’ risk factors and treatment needs based upon individualized patient needs and presentations.
- Enable dental professionals to best counsel their patients on appropriate antibiotic use and the rationale for their prescribing recommendations.
- Participate actively in an interdisciplinary team of health care providers in educating patients and colleagues about changes to prescribing patterns that may decrease exposure and reduce societal risk for multi-drug resistant bacteria.
