Trends in national opioid prescribing for dental procedures among patients enrolled in Medicaid

Abstract

BackgroundThe authors examined trends in opioid prescriptions by dentists for children and nonsenior adults enrolled in Medicaid. MethodsThe authors used the IBM Watson Medicaid claims databases for 2012 through 2019 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conversion data set. Opioid prescriptions were linked to a dental visit when prescribed within 3 days of the dental visit and if the patient had no medical visit reported during that period. The authors conducted descriptive analyses for age, procedures performed, treatment history, and prescription strength. ResultsThe results of the study showed consistent decreases in opioid prescription rates in dentistry during the study period from 2.7% to 1.6% among children (aged 0-20 years) and from 28.6% to 12.2% for adults (aged 21-64 years). The adult opioid prescription rate decreased for nonsurgical dental procedures from 9.7% to 2.9%. For surgical procedures, the adult prescription rate decreased from 48.0% to 28.7%. Most dental-related opioids were prescribed for oral surgeries (children, 70.8%; adults, 58.6%). By 2019, 23% of all opioid prescriptions for children were dental related. ConclusionsThe authors found that opioid prescription rates in dentistry for people enrolled in Medicaid declined substantially from 2012 through 2019 for both children and adults. The percentage of prescriptions written for nonsurgical visits consistently declined over the observed time. During the same time, opioid prescription rates for both dental surgical procedures and dental nonsurgical procedures decreased as well. Practical ImplicationsAlthough the trends revealed in the analysis show declining opioid prescription patterns, these results suggest that the overall rate is still too high and prescriptions are being written unnecessarily.