RESISTANCE

Dentistry accounts for about 10% of antibiotic prescriptions across global healthcare. To conserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for future generations, the development of a core outcome set (COS) aims to provide metrics for informing and evaluating dental antibiotic stewardship programmes. The research protocol for this was published in the BioMed Central Journal in February 2022.

An FDI-led symposium entitled Antimicrobial Resistance and COVID-19 – Two pandemics was held at the General Session of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) in June. FDI presented research into the impact of COVID-19 on antibiotic prescribing as well as the results of the dental antibiotic stewardship COS study.

FDI established the Global Antimicrobial Research Dental (GARD) Network to provide opportunities for Early Career Researchers in the field of dental antimicrobial research to come together to share their experiences and ideas. Their first collaborative research, a study entitled Antibiotic prescription guidelines in Latin America: a global need in dentistry, was also presented at the aforementioned IADR General Session.

Building on the direct input provided in 2021, FDI submitted a detailed response to the open consultation on the WHO AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve) Antibiotic Book. The response provided several technical suggestions, including the need to specify the infections that can be of possible dental origin and the associated need for clinical intervention. Many of FDI’s suggestions were taken into consideration in the final publication, including changing the name of the chapter from ‘dental infections’ to ‘oral and dental infections’ as well as consulting local and national guidelines for the use of antibiotic prophylaxis before dental procedures. Additionally, two articles written by FDI experts were cited in WHO’s publication. This feedback led to closer collaboration with WHO on the oral and dental infections chapter of the book.

Held in November, and organized by WHO, FDI used its social media and digital channels to participate in World Antimicrobial Awareness Week. A video called on the dental community to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance and sign FDI’s pledge – launched in 2021 – to help tackle the issue. In addition, FDI’s Dental Check-up podcast, released a special episode dedicated to the topic.