%0 Journal Article %T Knowledge of drug prescription in dentistry students %A Guzmá %A n-Á %A lvarez R %A Medeiros M %A Reyes-Lagunes LI %A Campos-Sepú %A lveda AE %J Drug, Healthcare and Patient Safety %D 2012 %I %X R Guzm¨˘n-¨˘lvarezv,1 M Medeiros,2,3 LI Reyes Lagunes,4 AE Campos-Sep¨˛lveda11Pharmacology Department, UNAM School of Medicine and Dentistry, Mexico City, 2Pharmacology Clinical Seminar, UNAM School of Medicine, Mexico City, 3Medical Sciences Department, Mexico Federico G¨®mez Children's Hospital, Mexico City, 4Measuring and Evaluation Unit, UNAM School of Psychology, Mexico City, MexicoBackground: Students in schools of dentistry attend to patients with illnesses, and often prescribe medication. Because students are still learning, they are influenced by a variety of factors: the different teaching approaches of the professors at the clinics and in the pharmacology course, fellow students, and even the information provided by the pharmaceutical industry.Objectives: The aim of this pilot study was to assess the prescription knowledge and common mistakes in fourth-year students at the School of Dentistry at the Universidad Nacional Aut¨®noma de M¨¦xico.Methods: In March 2010, a survey was conducted among 66 fourth-year students at the School of Dentistry, applying a previously validated questionnaire consisting of six open-ended questions The following factors were assessed: the most frequent illness requiring dental prescription; the most prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics; the most frequent errors; sources of information used for prescribing drugs; and whether the students knew and followed the World Health Organization Guide to Good Prescribing.Results: The most frequent response for each question was considered the most significant. The most common reason for prescribing medication was infection (n = 37, 56%), followed by pain (n = 24, 38%); the most used painkillers were ibuprofen and acetaminophen at equal levels (n = 25, 37.8%), followed by ketorolac (n = 7, 10.6%), naproxen (n = 6, 9.1%), diclofenac (n = 2, 3%), and aspirin (n = 1, 1.5%); the most widely prescribed antibiotics were amoxicillin (n = 52, 78.9%), ampicillin (n = 7, 10.6%), and penicillin V and clindamycin (n = 3, 4.5%). The most frequent errors reported by students were: lack of knowledge about drug posology (n = 49, 74.2%), improperly filled prescriptions (n = 7, 10.7%), not knowing the brand names and uncertainty about the correct drug indicated for each case (n = 3, 4.54%), not knowing the duration of treatment (n = 2, 3%), not asking the patient about possible allergies, and not giving prescriptions (n = 1, 1.5%). The sources of information used by students for prescribing drugs included the professors at the clinics (n = 49, 74.2%), the pharmacology course %U http://www.dovepress.com/knowledge-of-drug-prescription-in-dentistry-students-a10161