Méndez Romero, JulietaRodríguez Fernández, AlmudenaFerreira Gaona, Marta InésVillasanti Torales, Ulises ArmandoAguilar Barreto, GloriaRíos González, CarlosFigueiras Guzmán, Adolfo2025-06-232025-06-232025-04-17Julieta Mendez-Romero, Almudena Rodríguez-Fernández, Marta Ferreira, Ulises Villasanti, Gloria Aguilar, Carlos Rios-Gonzalez, Adolfo Figueiras, Interventions to improve antibiotic use among dentists: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Volume 80, Issue 6, June 2025, Pages 1494–1507, https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkaf1180305-7453https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42261Objectives To analyse the effectiveness of various strategies, such as audits, education and digital tools, in reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescription by dentists. This study provides a comprehensive overview of how such interventions can contribute to improving clinical practice and combatting antimicrobial resistance in the dental setting. Methods An electronic search of articles published until 2023 in the following databases was performed: MEDLINE, SCOPUS, EMBASE, COCHRANE CENTRAL, LILACS and BBO. Systematic data synthesis and meta-analysis was carried out. A total of 23 studies regarding interventions to reduce antibiotic prescription among dentists were included. The studies were mostly published in the UK between 1997 and 2023. Of the 23 studies, three were trials and 20 were pre–post studies. Results In general, interventions among dentists resulted in a 70% reduction in the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics (95% CI: 33.3% to 86.4%), which is an extremely high percentage. In the pre–post studies, the reduction was 71% (95% CI 28.8%–88.1%) I2 99.2%. In randomized controlled trial studies, a 63.9% (95% CI 41%–78.1%) I2 0% reduction was achieved. The greatest magnitude of effect was found in audit-based interventions with audit and education intervention at 73.3% (95% CI 44%–87.4%) and audit and feedback 75% (95% CI 33%–91.4%), respectively. However, the quality of the evidence is low, mostly due to the study design. Conclusion Given the magnitude of the effect found, it has been shown that dentists are receptive to improving their prescription of antibiotics. However, it is clear that there is ample room for improvement.eng© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/journal article10.1093/jac/dkaf118open access