Antibiotic resistance is of particular concern to dental teams, as antibiotics are the class of drugs most prescribed by dentists. About 10% of antibiotic prescriptions are issued by dentists, depending on the country. When developing a new antibiotic stewardship programme (ASP), the dental team may wish to start by analysing their current approach to using antibiotics as well as the factors that influence this approach.
As highlighted in FDI’s white paper, The essential role of the dental team in reducing antibiotic resistance, plans to tackle antibiotic resistance should aim to fit within National Action Plans (where they are in place), which in turn should cover the five objectives of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action Plan. For this reason, the resources in this library have been classified according to these five objectives. This classification makes it easier to identify resources that can be adopted/adapted within local ASPs to address the issues driving the dental team’s unnecessary use of antibiotics.