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A survey of knowledge, opinion and practice of dentists, pharmacists and parents in Nigeria towards the use of sugar-free medication.

AIM
The aetiology of caries is multifactorial. One key factor however is high sugar consumption, including sugar in medication especially for children with chronic diseases. This study assessed the level of awareness, knowledge, opinion and practice of dentists, pharmacists and parents about sugar-free medications (SFMs) and their potential to cause dental caries.


MATERIALS AND METHODS



DESIGN
Self-administered close ended questionnaires were handed out to 98 dentists, 88 pharmacists and 129 parents of child patients. Specific questions were asked that assessed respondents knowledge, attitude and practice with respect to prescription (dentists), dispensing (pharmacists) and consumption (parents of children) of sugar-containing medications.


RESULTS
More dentists than pharmacists or parents felt the main disadvantage of SFMs is that it is less sweet than sugar-containing medications (p=0.02) and may be less acceptable (P=0.003). Over a tenth of the dentists and pharmacist respectively, and a twentieth of parents felt the sugar content in medicine was not an important source of caries (p<0.001). Very few dentists prescribe SFMs.


CONCLUSION
There is a wide gap between the level of awareness, knowledge, opinion and practice of dentists, pharmacists and parents (drug consumers) about sugar-containing medications (SCMs) and the potential for these medications to cause dental caries.