Dentists are the leading prescribers of opioids for U.S. teens and the largest increase in dental prescriptions from 2010 to 2015 occurred in 11- to 18-year-olds, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association…For many young patients, this is going to be their first experience with opioids. “The fact that we’re still prescribing opioids when we’ve demonstrated that non steroidal’s are as affective most of the time is a little disturbing,” said Dr. Paul Moore, co-author of the study. (03-27-18, Az Daily Star)
If these statistics are delivering a disturbing jolt to you, as they did to me, read on. The American Dental Association recently published an analysis of five studies in their Journal evidencing that non steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs work just as well – or better – for most dental pain (such as tooth extractions, root canals, implants) as opioids. The ADA announced a new policy that essentially tells dentists to eliminate opioids from their arsenal, if at all possible, while it is also pushing for mandatory education for dentists that encourages using other painkillers. Finally.
Many of us remember having teeth extracted before braces as young teens and also our wisdom teeth when we were young adults. We were sent home with a few pain pills that contained codeine. When I had a root canal a few years ago, the dentist sent me home with a prescription for a huge supply of Vicodin. What on earth was he doing? This same oral surgeon gave our son a 10-day supply of Percocet until his appointment to get his wisdom teeth extracted – and then another 10-day supply (with a refill) after the surgery. Over twenty days of Percocet? Our son then returned to heroin and within two weeks died of an overdose. JL had been clean and sober for 6 months until that first Percocet….
What role did we, as parents, play in this tragedy? JL didn’t want to tell the dentist that he was a recovering opioid addict and we, reluctantly, agreed. He knew, and we should have known, that this was drug-seeking behavior. He was 25 so we had no authority to deny him medication. But we did have leverage – we were paying for the surgery – we could have very easily stood our ground and insisted that he not have opiates before or after. But we would have had to be willing to let our son experience pain, which we had been trying to help our children avoid since birth. (see my blog Pain, Feb 19, 2018)
Parents of children and young adults do play an important role in the prevention of exposure to opioids – and all addictive substances. We are not powerless and regardless of angering our kids, our love for them and our commitment as their parents and guardians needs to be embraced and encouraged. I hope these insights into one of the earliest and easiest avenues of a negative life-altering experience will help others avoid the mistakes so many of us made over a decade ago.
Note shared by a friend:
Thanks to Opiate Nation for not only bringing to our attention the issue of addiction in this country but also for providing an understanding approach to those of us who suffer from addiction or from its disastrous spin-off. I have to live, as they say, a day at a time dealing with the history of addiction in my family of and of the irretrievable loss of my beloved son as a result of it.
While my son abjured the use of pain killers following oral surgery when he was in his teens, a subsequent year-long hospitalization as the result of an accident in a mine of necessity introduced him to the world of opiates. He left the hospital addicted to prescription medications. an addiction from which he never recovered. He ultimately took his own life. Parents are often accused of being the culprit in this vicious cycle. If indeed we were, it was from our own ignorance that we did not intercede. We simply didn’t see the danger. Bless the writers of this incredibly informative blog for understanding the pain that each of us with addiction in our family suffers daily. We still enjoy life, but not as much, and we still laugh, but not as robustly. Our lives have been irrevocably diminished. Having a sympathetic ear through this blog brings surcease from our ongoing anguish.
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