Dentists have an important role to play in the opioid crisis. It is estimated that over 40% of a young adult’s first prescription of an opioid comes from a dentist. This group of patients are the most susceptible to developing an addiction to these drugs. This CE webinar will discuss the various issues of pain management and control with a focus at eliminating the need for opioids. It starts with initial management of pain by effective local anesthetic administration. The utilization of local anesthetic agents such as articaine have been shown to reduce the initial pain. This is then augmented with longer acting agents combined with non-steroidal and acetaminophen systemic administration. By using strategies currently available in practice dentists can work to be part of the solution to the opioid epidemic.

Upon completion of this CE webinar, the participant will:
• understand the role that dentistry has in the initiation of opioid abuse in susceptible patients
• be familiar with the terms “pre-emptive” and “preventative” analgesia
• learn to utilize more potent local anesthetic agents such as articaine and understand the properties of other agents that have prolonged agents
• initiate a strategy with the patient to eliminate the need for opioid agents   ( disclaimer, bio and commercial disclosure )