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Précis & Objective

  • Précis
    This study aimed to identify critical training gaps in dental implementation of opioid prescribing risk mitigation strategies. Dentists follow primary care physicians as the second leading prescriber of immediate release opioids. However, dentists typically have limited exposure to addiction training and may not be familiar with recommended opioid prescribing risk mitigation strategies. This study consisted of an online survey that documented current knowledge, training experiences, and practice behaviors related to acute dental pain management and opioid analgesic prescribing among member dentists. Data from the survey was paired with key practice-related enrollment data to identify aforementioned gaps in knowledge and directly inform the development of an educational intervention that provided dentists’ training in opioid misuse screening and implementation of risk mitigation strategies when prescribing opioids for acute pain management.