Pharmaceutical Advices Provided by Tunisian Pharmacists to Patients Experiencing Oral Pain
Abstract:
Background: Pharmacy is frequently visited due to its proximity and ease of access. Nevertheless, Pharmacists may not be available to provide adequate pharmaceutical advices because of the important number of patients received daily and sometimes a lack of knowledge and communication with dentists. The purpose of this study was to assess the pharmaceutical advices provided by pharmacists to patients experiencing oral pain.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional pilot study conducted on pharmacies located in the Center of Tunisia. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed to the pharmacists. It contained sociodemographic data and questions about the frequency of receiving patients complaining about oral pain, the described pain and the provided advices. Data were analyzed on SPSS software.
Results: A total of 80 pharmacists participated to the survey. The study showed that the majority of them received patients seeking for advice to relief their oral pain (99%). Regarding the behavior of the pharmacists, 44% of them recommended medicines and a dentist visit, 24% recommended only medicines, 20% recommended a dentist’s visit only and 12% medicines and a physician’s visit. The study showed that antibiotics were recommended by 52% of the pharmacists, anti-inflammatory drugs by 66%, analgesics by 60% and mouthrinces by 53% of the pharmacists.
Conclusion: This study showed that pharmacists may play an important role in the management of oral pain. However, some pitfalls were noticed and need to be avoided by collaboration between health decision makers, dentists and pharmacists for an adequate management of oral emergencies.
