Pain management after third molar extractions in adolescents: a qualitative study.

Background: Understanding how adolescent patients make decisions about pain management after complex dental procedures could help reduce the use of opioid medications and the potential for future opioid misuse in this population. This qualitative study explores how adolescents manage pain, including how decision making with parents and providers affect their experience with opioid and non-opioid analgesics after third molar dental extractions.

Methods: We used a qualitative approach for the analysis of 30 telephone-based semi-structured interviews completed by 15 dyads between May and August 2019, which included 15 adolescents (15-17 years) who underwent a dental extraction, and a parent or guardian for each adolescent.

Patient, Provider Type, and Procedure Type Factors Associated with Opioid Prescribing by Dentists in a Health Care System.

Introduction: Reports examining opioid prescribing for dental conditions are limited and do not examine patient-level factors. This study examines the association of patient age, sex, race, ethnicity, Medicaid coverage, and the need for an interpreter in addition to procedure type and dental provider type with receipt of an opioid prescription in dental care settings within a large health system.

Materials And Methods: This study was conducted utilizing data from the electronic health record of HealthPartners, a large dental practice embedded within a health care system.