A Comparative Study of Dental Providers’ Prescriptive Patterns of Opioids Analgesics

With more than 100 opioid-related overdose deaths occurring daily and over 11 million people misusing prescription opioids, the opioid epidemic is estimated to cost the US $506 billion annually. Dentists’ are responsible for 12% of all immediate-release opioid prescriptions, making them one of the top 5 prescribers of opioids analgesics among healthcare professionals in the US and significant contributors to the prevailing opioid epidemic.

This research project conducted a comparative analysis of Oregon State and New York State Medicaid Claims data to examine opioid prescribing patterns of dental providers related to dental pain management. The ultimate goal of the project was to determine general capacity of dental professionals to implement protocols which aim to prevent opioid misuse.