Mercy Or Menace

This program fulfills the requirements of continuing education for dentists and dental hygienists on the impact of opioid abuse and/or the proper prescription writing and use of opioids, along with appropriate alternatives for pain management in the dental practice in most states.

Legal and illicit psychoactive substances are ubiquitous in our communities, including the patients we treat daily. Use and abuse, of modern-day compounds that are both merciful and malevolent. This program will discuss the most important points of use to understand today, in order to mitigate acute risks when prescribing opiates, treating patients already using them and what long term risks will become inherent in patients that continue to use them. 

This program will discuss these questions from both a historical and present-day view, taking into consideration the law that governs their use and distribution, their physiology and clinical effects, benefits and detriments to use and what our roles and responsibilities are as health care providers and clinicians when treatment planning.