Pharmacology

Improving communication between providers, increasing use of alternative pain control mechanisms, and creating evidence-based prescribing guidelines will reduce the unintended distribution of prescription opioids.

Oral health professionals need to be familiar with bisphosphonates and other antiresorptive medications due to their impact on dental health.

Transmucosal drug delivery provides an alternative to traditional enteral, intravenous, or intramuscular routes of medication administration.

By Kristen M. Stephens, RDH, MS, JoAnn R. Gurenlian, RDH, MS, PhD, AFAAOM Although medical advances have made it possible for individuals to live longer, advanced age is often influenced by medications used for indications not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Using drugs off-label has become a common practice in dentistry (Table 1),1–8 and this increase...

Clinicians need to understand the signs and symptoms of opioid abuse and engage in efforts to curtail it.

As complications of medication use negatively impact oral comfort, function, and quality of life, clinicians should assess patients’ drug regimens to determine oral health risks.

Oral health professionals need to be aware of the systemic and oral health effects of the substances in this class of drugs.

Providing patients with scientific information and clarifying misinformation about cannabis are essential to the provision of safe, ethical, and compassionate care.

Clinicians should be knowledgeable about the signs and symptoms of opioid use disorder in order to provide the most appropriate care to these patients.

In order to safely and effectively manage this patient population, oral health professionals should be able to recognize the medical indications for which antiplatelets are prescribed and understand their adverse effects.