Assessment of prescription writing skills among dental house officers: A multi-center study.

Objective: To assess the knowledge and skills of prescription writing among dental house officers from different hospitals. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from July to September, 2022. A self-administered, structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 180 house officers from four teaching dental hospitals (n=45 each). The participants were asked to write a prescription for an adult and a pediatric patient. The prescription was evaluated according to WHO criteria. Analysis was done using SPSS v.20. Data was presented as frequencies and percentages. Results: Among the 180 participants, 42.9% were males and 57.1% were females. 33.9% participants reported prescription writing to be a difficult task. Only 36.7% participants reported to be trained in prescribing pediatric medications. None of the prescriptions completely fulfilled the WHO criteria. Doctor related information (name, address and contact no) was written by only 3.8% of the participants while 10% of the participants mentioned the patient related information (name, address and age). Dosage of the prescribed drugs was the most commonly drug-related missing parameter which was mentioned in 30% of the pediatric prescriptions and 21% of the adult prescriptions. Conclusion: There is a general lack of knowledge among the dental house officers regarding prescription writing as they were found to be unaware of the essential elements of a prescription. The findings call for an urgent change in the undergraduate teaching of prescription writing skills with special emphasis on pediatric drugs and dosage.

Compound odontoma in a nine-years-old boy associated with impacted permanent central and lateral incisor - a case report.

Odontomas are one of the most common tumours of odontogenic origin. They are usually asymptomatic but may be associated with retained primary teeth or missing permanent teeth. Though the exact aetiology is unknown, the postulated causes include trauma, infection, inheritance and genetic mutation. Early diagnosis and management will result in fewer complications. Conservative surgical excision is the treatment of choice. This case report presents a treated case of compound odontoma associated with delayed eruption of the permanent central incisor in a nine-yearsold boy.