DCI News

Jefferson City, Mo – At its August 3, 2018 meeting, the Missouri Dental Board voted unanimously to advance a proposed rule to regulate prescribing limits on opioid dosage and duration for the treatment of acute dental pain.  The proposed rule is based upon recommendations from the United States Centers for Disease Control as well as the American Dental Association. 

A March 26, 2018 statement from the American Dental Association reported that in 2016, opioids (including prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl) killed more than 42,000 people in the United States, more than any year on record.  Forty percent of those deaths involved a prescription pain reliever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In statements in Executive Orders 17-18 and 17-19, the Missouri Governor’s office reported that in 2016, more than 900 Missourians died from an opioid overdose and estimated that two Missourians die from narcotic overdose and two babies are born with narcotic withdrawal every day somewhere in Missouri.

Missouri Dental Board Executive Director Brian Barnett said, “I applaud the Board for taking the initiative to bring forward a meaningful proposal designed to combat this serious health crisis effecting not only Missourians but people all across the country.  There is no single solution to the opioid crisis.  It will take cooperation between several different entities to curb this epidemic of tragic, preventable deaths.  Patients often come into dental offices suffering from acute, intense dental related pain.  Most often, that pain is treated with prescription opioids.  This truly puts dentists on the front line in this crisis.  I am proud to see the Board along with the American Dental Association taking a leading role in addressing this issue.”