Author Interviews, Dental Research, Pain Research, University of Pittsburgh / 03.05.2018
Are Opioids Effective for Dental Pain?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Paul A. Moore, DMD, PhD, MPH
School of Dental Medicine
University of Pittsburgh
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Effective pain management is a priority in dental practice. Government and private agencies highlight the need to provide optimal pain relief, balancing potential benefits and harms of both opioid and nonopioid analgesic agents. The purpose of our study is to summarize the available evidence on the benefits and harms of analgesic agents, focusing on preexisting systematic reviews.
We found combinations of ibuprofen and acetaminophen as having the highest association with treatment benefit in adult patients and the highest proportion of adult patients who experienced maximum pain relief. Diflunisal, acetaminophen, and oxycodone were found to have the longest duration of action in adult patients. Medication and medication combinations that included opioids were among those associated most frequently with acute adverse events in both child and adult-aged patient populations.
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