Self-medication for oral health problems among adults attending the University Dental Hospital, Sharjah

Prevalence and causes of self-medication for oral health problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Self-medication, particularly for oral and dental health problems, stands as a significant health and social concern. Therefore, the current systematic review and meta-analysis study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence and underlying causes of self-medication for oral and dental health problems.

METHOD

Articles published until August 30, 2023, were searched in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. A manual search was also done in Google Scholar, references, citations, and Gray literature. The screening of articles was done independently by two members of the research team. The quality of reporting in the articles was evaluated using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist For Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies. Meta-analysis was performed using the fixed effects model in Stata software (StataCorp, version 16).

RESULTS

The results of 37 studies involving 12,110 participants with a mean age of 32 years and 48% male were analyzed. Most of the studies were conducted in low- and middle-income countries. The overall prevalence of self-medication was estimated at 59% [95%CI: 55-63%], with 58% [95% CI: 53-63%] among dental patients, and 60% [95% CI: 52-67%] in the general public. Analgesics (60%) and antibiotics (19%) were the most commonly used drug categories. In terms of the mean proportion, having previous experience, unbearable pain, and lack of time had the highest percentages, and in terms of the number of repetitions among the reviewed articles, economic problems, lack of time, and limited access were the most repeated reasons. The most significant related factors in self-treatment were female gender, higher education, and occupation. Pharmacies were the primary source of self-treatment medications.

CONCLUSION

The results showed a very high prevalence of self-medication for oral health problems, necessitating prompt and effective interventions. It is recommended to focus on regulating the consumption of analgesics and antibiotics, addressing financial issues, and overseeing the pharmacy operations.

Self-medication for dental caries-associated toothache among dental outpatients attended at public health facilities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: A cross-sectional study

Background and aim

Self-medication is a common practice worldwide, and its prevalence ranges between 20% and 80% among patients suffering from dental pain. The socioeconomic status of an individual plays a key role in self-medication practice, especially sex and education level. This study aims to investigate the extent of self-medication practice for toothache due to dental caries among adults in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Methods

This was an analytical cross-sectional study carried out over 6 months. It included adult patients presenting with toothache in public dental clinics. A questionnaire captured information on demography, self-medication practice, the substance used for self-medication, duration of self-medication, and reason for self-medication. Univariate analysis was carried out to assess factors associated with self-care remedies. The probability level of α < 0.05 was selected for statistical significance.

Results

A total of 420 participants took part in this survey with a majority (54.3%) being females. The ages of the participants ranged between 18 years and 79 years, with a mean age of 33.37 (SD = 12.64) years. Nearly all (98.5%) participants used some sort of self-prescribed remedies for managing toothache before attending a dental clinic for appropriate treatment. The sociodemographic status of the participants did not influence the practice of self-medication.

Conclusion

About 98% of patients suffering from toothache in Tanzania practice self-medication, and it cuts across all social strata of the adult dental population.

Patient or Public Contribution

Patients with toothache secondary to dental caries participated in the pilot study and were consulted on the suitability of the study tool.

Perceptions of general practitioners towards managing dental presentations in Australia: a qualitative study

Background Patients presenting with dental pain are common in general practice, despite dental infections being most appropriately managed with dental treatment to address the cause of the infection. Although antibiotics are not appropriate for the management of localised toothache without signs of systemic spread, general practitioners (GPs) often prescribe antibiotics and analgesics for the management of dental pain. The aim of this study was to explore GPs' perceptions and management of dental presentations in Australia. Methods Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with GPs across Victoria, Australia, between October 2022 and January 2023. Data were thematically analysed. Results The study found that dental pain was the most common presenting complaint for patients attending general practice with a dental problem. Five major themes were identified in this study: knowledge, beliefs about capabilities, emotion, environmental context and resources, and social influences/social professional role and identity. In terms of knowledge and capabilities, GPs would advise patients to seek dental care, as they are aware that antibiotics would not resolve the underlying issue. Challenges for GPs included limited training in oral and dental treatment, as well as emotions, such as patient anxiety and phobia resulting in patients seeking dental care through a GP rather than a dentist. Barriers due to the context, such as access to dental care, long waiting lists within the public dental system and cost, were some of the reasons patients present to general practice rather than a seeing a dentist. Furthermore, issues that influenced GPs' antibiotic prescribing included patients' expectations for antibiotics to treat their dental pain, as well as dentists advising their patients to attend their GP for antibiotics prior to dental treatment. Conclusions This study identified factors that influenced GPs' management of patients with dental conditions. To address these issues, it is imperative to develop interventions addressing patients' knowledge around oral health, as well as providing improved access to dental care for these patients.

A cross-sectional study on COVID-19-related changes in self-medication with antibiotics

Background and aim

Dental treatments have been limited to emergency care in many countries worldwide due to the global rapid spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Fear of contracting the disease in dental clinics has also altered the pattern of dental visits and self-medication. The present study compared self-medication with antibiotics (SMA) and the pattern of dental visits before and after the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic in a referral dental clinic in the north of Iran.

Materials and methods

The data for the present cross-sectional study was collected from 756 patient records retrieved from the archives of the Faculty Clinic of Rasht School of Dentistry during two separate periods: before the COVID-19 pandemic from mid-November 2019 to mid-February 2020, and after the pandemic emergence from mid-April to mid-July 2020. In addition to demographic variables namely age, gender, and place of residence of patients, their smoking status, chief complaint, and SMA were also extracted from patient records. The Chi-square test and binary logistic regression models with 95% confidence interval served for statistical analysis.

Results

In total, 756 patient records (412 records from the pre-pandemic period and 344 records from the post-pandemic period) were evaluated. SMA was significantly more prevalent after the pandemic compared to that before pandemic (OR = 3.39, 95% CI = 2.43–4.73, P<0.001). The number of patients who smoke significantly decreased after the pandemic by 6.6% compared to that in pre-pandemic period. Dental pain, pus discharge, and abscess as the chief complaints of patients were significantly more prevalent during the post-pandemic period; while, dental checkups, tooth hypersensitivity, and esthetic dental problems were significantly more frequent as the chief complaints of patients during the pre-pandemic period.

Conclusion

There is indication that during the COVID-19 pandemic, SMA and prevalence of acute dental problems in patients have increased. With regard to the consequences of SMA, there is a need to raise public awareness on this matter.

[Frequency and characterization of self-medication for dental manifestations in patients attending private clinics in Lima in 2021]

Introduction

The self-medication is the use of drugs without health professionals' prescription that many times, instead of helping, aggravate the patient's health. Dental pain is the main reason for performing this act in the area of odontology. It is important to know if patients self-medicate in order to develop strategies to reduce the misuse of drugs and avoid this practice.

Objective

Establish the frequency and characterization of self-medication in patients who visit to the three private dental clinics between the months of march to July in the year 2021.

Materials and methods

Cross-sectional observational study with a sample of 450 patients from three dental clinics in the city of Lima. The assessment tool was a 13-question quiz about the main characteristics of self-medication.

Results

The 85,8% of patients use drugs without medical prescription. 41.5% of the patients self-medicated did it with old prescriptions made by the dentist. The age group that more self-medicated was 26-35 years old with 35.5%. The most frequent type of disease was dental pain with 45.6%, The degree of instruction with the highest percentage was complete university superior with 32.9%.

Conclusions

The frequency of self-medication of the patients who visited the three dental centers is considerably high.