The Opioid Epidemic and Dentists: Scope, Related Issues and Dental Implications of Patients With Substance Use Disorders

This program is designed to help dentists meet their continuing education requirements for prescribing controlled substances. The course provides an update on the current scope of the opioid epidemic and its impact on pain management in dentistry, and a review of the clinical pharmacologic traits of opioid analgesics and those of non-opioid alternatives for the management of acute dental pain. Additionally, the program will review the dental implications for patients with Substance Use Disorder and strategies to minimize the risk of opioid and controlled substance abuse and diversion. This course satisfies the TSBDE requirement of 4 hours of continuing education on controlled substances every 2 years.

Objectives

Upon completion of the course, the dentist will be able to describe and apply the following during direct patient care:

• Understand the current nature and scope of the opioid epidemic and current issues involving non-opioid controlled substances (e.g., cannabis)
• Select appropriate non-opioid medications for the management of acute dental pain when opioids are contraindicated
• Recognize Substance Use Disorder and apply strategies to prevent diversion and abuse of controlled substances in the dental practice
• Describe strategies for recognizing Substance Use Disorder (SUD) in dental patients and understand the implications of SUD for delivery of dental care to addicted patients
• Understand the role of opioid reversal in the management of opioid overdose reactions and the pharmacologic characteristics of opioid antagonists