The ADA News (7/11, Manchir) reported the July JADA cover story examines “the types and frequency of opioids prescribed by dentists,” using data from South Carolina’s prescription drug monitoring program. The authors of “Dental Opioid Prescribing and Multiple Opioid Prescriptions Among Dental Patients: Administrative Data From the South Carolina Prescription Drug Monitoring Program,” found that “one of five patients receiving opioid prescriptions from their dentists had at least one preexisting opioid prescription from various providers.” The authors observe that dentists across the country, except in Missouri, can “query their state’s prescription drug monitoring program to inform their opioid prescribing decisions and potentially guard against the risk for unintentional overdoses or patient drug diversions.”

The full article is available at JADA.ADA.org.

MouthHealthy.org/opioids and ADA.org/Opioids provide additional resources for patients and dental professionals.