Empowering Dentists to Reduce Opioid Prescriptions to Young People

With National Institutes of Health funding, faculty from the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry and College of Pharmacy are examining opioid prescriptions for adolescents and young adults after major dental procedures.

Principal investigators on the award, Marcia Rojas-Ramirez, D.D.S., assistant professor of dentistry, and Doug Oyler, Pharm.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice and science, teamed up to implement an intervention strategy with dental providers to reduce the amount of opioid prescriptions they write after dental procedures.

“Many of us personally know someone who has been affected by a substance use disorder and have seen how devastating these can be not only to the individual, but also family members and the community,” Rojas-Ramirez said. “So, acknowledging and observing that, knowing the role of dentistry in this opioid epidemic has been a factor leading to the development of this proposal.”