Distribution of opioid prescribing and high-risk prescribing among U.S. dentists in 2019
Open accessAbstract
Introduction It is unknown whether certain dentists account for disproportionate shares of dental opioid prescriptions and high-risk prescriptions. Identifying and characterizing such dentists could inform the targeting of initiatives to improve the appropriateness and safety of dental opioid prescribing.Methods In May 2021, the authors conducted a cross-sectional analysis using the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database, which reports dispensing from 92% of U.S. pharmacies, and 2 provider databases (IQVIA OneKey, National Plan and Provider Enumeration System). Analyses included opioid prescriptions from dentists dispensed in 2019 to patients aged >12 years. High-risk prescriptions were those considered high risk by any of 3 metrics (prescriptions to opioid-naïve patients exceeding a 3-day supply, prescriptions with daily opioid dosage ≥50 morphine milligram equivalents, opioid prescriptions with benzodiazepine overlap). Among all prescriptions and high-risk prescriptions, the authors calculated the proportion accounted for by high-volume dentists -- those with prescription counts in the 95th percentile or higher. Using logistic regression, the characteristics associated with being a high-volume dentist were identified.Results In 2019, a total of 141,345 dentists accounted for 10,736,743 opioid prescriptions dispensed to patients aged >12 years; 4,242,634 (39.5%) were high-risk prescriptions. The 7,079 high-volume dentists, a group representing 5.0% of the 141,345 dentists, accounted for 46.9% of all prescriptions and 47.5% of high-risk prescriptions. Male sex, younger age, non‒Northeast location, and specialization in oral and maxillofacial surgery were associated with a higher risk of being a high-volume dentist.Conclusions In 2019, high-volume dentists accounted for almost half of dental opioid prescriptions and high-risk prescriptions. Quality improvement initiatives targeting these dentists may be warranted.
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Adolescents and young adults filling or receiving an opioid prescription after a dental procedure may have an increased risk of developing long-term opioid use and overdose than those who did not fill or receive an opioid prescription.
“In addition, adolescents and young adults filling or receiving an opioid prescription after a dental procedure may have an increased risk of developing long-term opioid use and overdose than those who did not fill or receive an opioid prescription.”
From Evidence-based clinical practice guideline for the pharmacologic management of acute dental pain in adolescents, adults, and older adults (2024) · cites this paper as [14]
The Introduction (page unavailable) says dental opioid prescribing increases the risk of adverse events, including overdose and addiction, and emphasizes adolescents and young adults. The Methods > Measures section links prescriptions exceeding a 3-day supply to long-term opioid use. The paper does not establish the claimed comparison with young dental patients who did not fill or receive an opioid prescription for both outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- Chua, K.-P., Waljee, J. F., Gunaseelan, V., Nalliah, R. P., & Brummett, C. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chua, Kao-Ping
- Venue
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-03
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 317-325
- ISSN
- 0749-3797 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8867916
- OpenAlex
- W4213216895
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 3.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (K08DA048110)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Opioid Use
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Pharmaceutical Practices and Patient Outcomes
- Keywords
- high-risk prescribing, opioid prescribing, opioid-naive patients, morphine milligram equivalents, maxillofacial surgery, dentist characteristics, prescription appropriateness
- MeSH terms
- Analgesics, Opioid, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Dentists, Humans, Male, Practice Patterns, Physicians', Drug Prescriptions, Prescriptions
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