IADR Abstract Archives
Opioid Prescribing Habits Among Oklahoma Dentists: A Survey
Objectives: The opioid crisis has been a growing topic the past few years, and it is crucial that we take a closer look at the effect of opioid prescribing patterns among health care professionals and how it is contributing to this epidemic. Our study aimed to investigate opioid prescribing patterns among Oklahoma practicing dentists, as well as practitioners’ knowledge of guidance for known addicts, neither of which have been previously investigated in Oklahoma.
Methods: A survey was established using a previous design tested survey, reviewed by a statistician, and set up in Qualtrics. We used the 2018-2019 Oklahoma Dental Association member dentist directory for our pool and included all current and active members, excluding retired dentists. A total of 1076 dentists were sent an invitation via email. We sent the invitation to our pool two times over a two month period and data was analyzed by the statistician. Our study sample size was 161.
Results: Our results indicated that Oklahoma dentists are following the current ADA guidelines by checking the PMP website. A large majority of dentists in the state of Oklahoma currently prescribe opioids for pain management, with surgical tooth extractions and emergency/pain management being the top two reasons that prompted them to prescribe opioids.
Conclusions: A majority of dentisty in Oklahoma use opiod-based analgesics although evidence suggests that acute pain can be better controlled using non-opioids analgesics. It may take some time for more dentists to start shifting towards using non-opioid analgesics to manage acute pain. Continuing education courses could be very beneficial in teaching practitioners ways to recognize a drug-seeking patient, and how to confront known addicts, as well as learning proper ways to dispose of opioids to better educate patients. Additionally, more resources through the state and communities need to be created and advertised, in order to help dentists treat addicts safely.
Methods: A survey was established using a previous design tested survey, reviewed by a statistician, and set up in Qualtrics. We used the 2018-2019 Oklahoma Dental Association member dentist directory for our pool and included all current and active members, excluding retired dentists. A total of 1076 dentists were sent an invitation via email. We sent the invitation to our pool two times over a two month period and data was analyzed by the statistician. Our study sample size was 161.
Results: Our results indicated that Oklahoma dentists are following the current ADA guidelines by checking the PMP website. A large majority of dentists in the state of Oklahoma currently prescribe opioids for pain management, with surgical tooth extractions and emergency/pain management being the top two reasons that prompted them to prescribe opioids.
Conclusions: A majority of dentisty in Oklahoma use opiod-based analgesics although evidence suggests that acute pain can be better controlled using non-opioids analgesics. It may take some time for more dentists to start shifting towards using non-opioid analgesics to manage acute pain. Continuing education courses could be very beneficial in teaching practitioners ways to recognize a drug-seeking patient, and how to confront known addicts, as well as learning proper ways to dispose of opioids to better educate patients. Additionally, more resources through the state and communities need to be created and advertised, in order to help dentists treat addicts safely.
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