Introduction: Self medication is selection and use of medicines by individuals to treat self recognized or self diagnosed conditions or symptoms. The study was done to assess the patterns of self medication in undergraduate dental students of North India. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was done on a sample of 122 dental students of second year. A prevalidated questionnaire was used to collect data regarding demographic characteristics and variables elaborating on self medication patterns. Results: The study revealed a prevalence of 80.23% of the students self medicating. The drug used in higher numbers was paracetamol, followed by analgesics, antibiotics and medicines for cold and cough. Conclusion: Our study reveals that self medication is widely practiced among dental students. The students and public need to be educated on this aspect to ensure safety of drugs.

Keywords: Dental Students; Self Medication; Drugs; Analgesics; Education.