Opioid overprescription remains a major concern in dentistry. Although the prescription of opioids by dentists in the US has decreased sharply in recent years, dentists in the country still prescribe opioids at a substantially higher rate than their counterparts in several other high-income countries, a recent study has found.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of New South Wales. Building on earlier findings that the dispensing rate of opioid prescriptions from dentists in the US was substantially higher than in the UK in 2016, the researchers examined whether the US rate remains elevated by international standards. Using data from 2021 to 2024, they evaluated trends in dental opioid dispensing in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and the US.
According to the findings, dental opioid dispensing declined in all jurisdictions studied between 2021 and 2024. The largest relative decreases were recorded in Germany, where the rate fell by almost one-third, and in the US, where it dropped by more than a quarter. However, the US still had the highest rate in 2024, at 2,022 prescriptions dispensed per 100,000 people. Although the gap between the US and the other jurisdictions narrowed over time, it remained substantial. France, Puerto Rico and Australia had rates between half and two-thirds of the US rate.
The study reported that two-thirds of opioid prescriptions by dentists in the US are for tooth extraction, indicating that there is still substantial room to reduce opioid use in dental care.
The study was published online in JAMA Network Open.