“Everyone delivering and supporting oral healthcare has a role to play”

Teams delivering oral healthcare are reminded that they can identify service improvements, working together to help keep antimicrobials working by audit of prescribing practices. The wider oral health community should consider its impact too, by ensuring access to the right oral healthcare at the right time and in the right place.

Dental teams are invited to use the following resources to ensure that antimicrobials are being used only when strictly necessary and appropriate. The Dental Antimicrobial Stewardship Toolkit provides a range of guidance, training, audit and patient-facing resources which will be useful for all members of the team, including but not limited to prescribers.

• The British Association of Dental Nurses
• The Association of Dental Hospitals
• The British Society of Dental Hygiene & Therapy
• The British Association of Private Dentistry
• The Faculty of Dental Surgery
• The College of General Dentistry
• The Association of Clinical Oral Microbiologists
• The British Association of Dental Therapists
• The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
• The British Association of Oral Surgeons
• The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Glasgow
• The British and Irish Society for Oral Medicine
• The British Dental Association
• The Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh
• The British Endodontic Society
• The British Society of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry
• The British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry

Links to resources:

• Dental Antimicrobial Stewardship Toolkit: gov.uk/guidance/dental-antimicrobial-stewardship-toolkit
• Guidelines for antimicrobial prescribing in dentistry are available at: https://cgdent.uk/standards-guidance//, https://bnf.nice.org.ukand sdcep.org.uk/published-guidance/drug-prescribing/
• Free CPD for prescribers: baos.org.uk/elearning/
• Free course for the wider team: futurelearn.com/courses/tackling-antibiotic-resistance-dentists