Effective Alternatives to Opioids for Pain Management
Dr. Jose Lança
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry
The COVID-19 pandemic may have been grabbing allthe headlines for the past twelve months, but all the while two other healthcare related epidemics have not gone away: antibiotic resistance and the opioid crisis.
In this edition of CDA Oasis Live, Dr. John O’Keefe invites Dr. Jose Lança, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, to give his perspective on the current state of the opioid crisis in Canada, and to offer practical advice on what dentists can do to help when prescribing pain killers.
Here are the key takeaways from the conversation…
- The opioid crisis in Canada continues to get worse. The number of proven opioid-related deaths in 2020 exceeded 5,300.
- Sources of opioids are varied, but a large number of individuals are initially introduced to opioids by way of a prescription by a healthcare professional, be it a physician or a dentist.
- In Ontario, 16.7% of opioid prescribers are dentists and 22% of opioid prescriptions are written by dentists.
- There are proven effective alternatives to the prescription of opioids in the management of dental pain. It has been shown that a combination of moderate doses of ibuprofen and acetaminophen are effective in the management of pain for the extraction of an impacted 3rd This combination has already been approved by the FDA.
We hope you find the conversation useful. We welcome your thoughts, questions and/or suggestions about this post and other topics. Leave a comment in the box below or send us your feedback by email.
Until next time!
CDA Oasis Team
Related Posts
- Pain Management in Dentistry: Safe and Effective Alternatives to Opioids
- Special Series Part Two, Drug Interactions: Cannabis and Analgesics, Sympathomimetics, Liver Enzyme Inhibitors
- Special Series Part One, Impairment and Intoxication: Cannabis and Dental Management
- Special Series, Part Three: Effective Alternative Treatments to Opioids
