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OPEN examines data, clinical practices and strategies to support better pain management, opioid stewardship, policy, treatment and care.

Persistent Opioid Use Associated With Dental Opioid Prescriptions Among Publicly and Privately Insured US Patients, 2014 to 2018

Chua KP; Hu HM; Waljee JF; Nalliah RP; Brummett CM; Persistent Opioid Use Associated With Dental Opioid Prescriptions Among Publicly and Privately Insured US Patients, 2014 to 2018. JAMA Network Open. Published online 16 April 2021. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.6464
  • Persistent opioid use (POU) was defined as 1 or more dispensed opioid prescriptions 4 to 90 days after the index date and 1 or more prescriptions 91 to 365 days after the index date. Overall POU was 1.3%, and the risk of POU was higher among publicly insured (2.0%) than privately insured patients (0.9%).
  • The initial dental opioid prescriptions were associated with a 1.0–percentage point higher risk of POU among publicly insured patients compared with privately insured patients.
  • The results further highlight the importance of avoiding dental opioid prescribing when nonopioids provide effective analgesia, which is the case for most dental procedures.