Promoting dental patient safety toward judicious medication usage: a review

Objective: This critical review aimed to review strategies for health promotion and patient safety regarding the usage of drugs prescribed by dental practitioners. Methods: Manual searches were conducted on PubMed, Embase, and in the Cochrane database of systematic reviews using the keywords “dentistry”, “medication error”, “drug-related side effects and adverse reactions”, and “patient safety”. Publications by the World Health Organization, and the World Dental Federation were also searched to organize this review. Results: Several approaches have been identified to promote patient safety, including continuum education and training of practitioners, interdisciplinary work with clinical pharmacists, and electronic tools to aid practitioners in prescribing the adequate therapeutic regimen avoiding dosage errors and checking for potential drug interactions. Conclusion: Medication errors are common in dentistry, as such, it is fundamental that health professionals, patients, governments, and communities commit to advancing improvements and medication safety.