364 - Patient Factors Affecting Rate Of Dental Follow-Up After Oral Antibiotics

Purpose: Conservative use of antibiotics is generally recommended in the pediatric dental population. Oral antibiotics are not an alternative for traditional dental treatment, such as extraction or pulp therapy, in the absence of systemic infection. In the current retrospective study, we investigated the relationship between patient characteristics and whether a patient presented for dental follow-up after being prescribed oral antibiotics for a dental condition.

Methods: This retrospective study is a comprehensive chart review on electronic patient records including patients 0 to 22 years old who presented to Boston Medical Center from October 2018 to June 2023 for a dental chief complaint and were prescribed antibiotics. Variables collected include gender, race, insurance, THRIVE assessment, special healthcare needs, type of antibiotic prescribed, and whether a primary or permanent tooth was affected. Statistical analyses were performed using Chi-square test with Yates correction and Fisher’s exact test. P-values were tested against a significance level of 0.05.

Results: Our findings in the study cohort (n = 81) demonstrate that the rate of patients presenting for follow-up after being prescribed antibiotics for a dental reason is 61%. Of the patients who returned for follow-up, 67% received definitive treatment within 3 months of prescription of antibiotics. While our findings did not identify any statistically significant relationships between the rate of follow-up and a patient’s age, affected dentition (primary versus permanent), THRIVE assessment, and medical history, our data suggests that patients in which permanent teeth are affected may be less likely to present for follow-up.

Conclusion: Our findings do not suggest any statistically significant relationships between rate of follow-up after antibiotics and patient-specific factors. Clinicians must be aware of possible loss to follow-up when prescribing oral antibiotics in the setting of acute pulpitis. A larger sample size is recommended for future analyses.