Opioid Prescribing Protocol Effect on Oral Surgery Clinic Prescribing Patterns

Opioid abuse in the United States continues in epidemic proportions. In 2016, an average of 175 deaths per day were attributed to an opioid overdose. Forty deaths per day (22.5%) were from semi-synthetic opioid such as hydrocodone and oxycodone. Dentists and oral surgeons are leading prescribers of these analgesics in adolescent patients and frequently are first-time prescribers to opioid-naive patients. In the first quarter of 2016, the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery implemented a mandatory opioid prescribing protocol.

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