Background: Odontogenic infections are one of the main causes of patients visit to a dental office. Antibiotics are magical drugs that have revolutionized the 20^th Century in their ability to treat infectious diseases, increasing the life expectancy of individuals.  Antibiotics prescription is a common practice among dental professionals and according to an estimate by Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and American Dental Association (ADA), over prescription of antibiotics is seen in 30-50% of the cases.

Aim: To assess and compare (no comparison) the antibiotic prescription pattern among general dentists and specialty dentists in Lahore, Pakistan.

Methodology: A cross sectional survey was conducted amongst dentists working in the teaching institutions and in the private clinics of Lahore. A pre-piloted questionnaire survey adopted from Jagan et al with slight modifications was used. In this descriptive study 300 practicing dentists were selected using consecutive sampling with a 5% level of significance and margin of error

Results: Total 300 filled questionnaires were collected. Almost 84% of the dentists were less than 30 years old while 13% were between 31-40 years old. Of the participants 65.3% were females and 34.7 percent were males. Dental infections associated with gross swelling or associated with closure of the eye were the most common reasons for prescription of antibiotics. Almost 62% of the dentists would give antibiotic if any delay in treatment is anticipated. Almost 50% of the dentists would prescribe antibiotics for periapical abscess and cellulitis.

Conclusion: There is a trend towards over prescription of antibiotics by dentists without following the standard guidelines. Emphasis on the correct prescription strategies of antibiotics at the undergraduate level and more awareness should be created as continuing dental education programs for practicing dentists.