BNF

The British National Formulary (BNF) is a joint publication of the British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. A print edition of the BNF is published biannually under the authority of a Joint Formulary Committee which comprises representatives of the two professional bodies and of the UK Health Departments. The online version of the BNF is updated monthly (available at www.medicinescomplete.com).

The BNF for Children (BNFC) is a joint publication of the British Medical Association, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists Group. The print edition of the BNF for Children is published yearly under the authority of a Paediatric Formulary Committee, with the online version updated monthly.

Both the BNF and BNFC aim to provide prescribers, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals with sound up-to-date information about the use of medicines. SDCEP would like to gratefully acknowledge the BNF for allowing the information which is most relevant to drug prescribing for dentistry to be summarised in this guidance.  The intention is not for this guidance to replace the BNF and BNFC but rather for the guidance to be used in conjunction with these two publications.

It is important that dentists are aware of potential drug interactions and links to Appendix 1 of the BNF, which details known drug interactions, are provided where appropriate.