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patient arrive to the visit by his or her self, and can they take
care of their own apartment or house”?
Dentists need also consider the urgency (medically necessary versus elective), and invasiveness of the planned procedure. A denture adjustment or examination or prophylaxis
without local anesthesia is roughly analogous to a haircut in
terms invasiveness; rescheduling is rarely indicated.
Conversely, a 3-hour multiple extraction using 15 through 20
milliliters of local anesthetic is a physiological challenge.
Finally, many dental patients are in pain or anxious. This
contributes to the elevated BP found the day of the visit and
precipitates more emergencies than the operation itself.
Fortunately, most dentists can offer some type of sedation.
Studies and personal experience have shown sedation can
lowers BP 20 through 30 millimeters of mercury, just as
effectively as administering antihypertensive medications.4
A multicenter randomized clinical trial looking at what
adverse effects might occur if dental treatment were performed
on patients with elevated BP would be interesting. It would be
expensive, need to enroll thousands of patients because of the
few anticipated adverse events, and may not pass the scrutiny
of many universities’ institutional review boards. I doubt it
would find the outcome postulated by some that patients with
elevated BP are more likely to have a stroke, myocardial
infarction, or increased intraoperative bleeding if allowed to
complete the planned dental treatment.
Canceling an elective, invasive procedure on a frail patient
not seen by his or her physician for over 1 year, especially with
BP in the 180/110 mm Hg range and dyspnea or chest pain
walking to the chair is reasonable. Any intraoperative or immediate postoperative complication in such cases would be
hard to defend. However, with no known benefit, the risks and
costs of canceling and rescheduling secondary to isolated
elevated BP readings in most patients unwarranted. This
practice should stop. n
J. Bruce Bavitz, DMD
Professor and Chair
Department of Surgical Specialties
College of Dentistry
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Lincoln, NE
Coordinating Editor
Practical Reviews in Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2020.05.011
Copyright ª 2020 American Dental Association. All rights reserved.
1. Sanders RD, Hughes F, Shaw A, et al. Perioperative Quality Initiative consensus
statement on preoperative blood pressure, risk and outcomes for elective surgery. Br J
Anaesth. 2019;122(5):552-562.
2. Bavitz JB. Dental management of patients with hypertension. Dent Clin North Am.
2006;50(4):547-562.
3. Han B, Li Q, Chen X. Effects of the frailty phenotype on post-operative complications in older surgical patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Geriatr. 2019;
19(1):141.
4. Grossman E, Nadler M, Sharabi Y, Thaler M, Shachar A, Shamiss A. Antianxiety
treatment in patients with excessive hypertension. Am J Hypertens. 2005;18(9):11741177.
JADA 151(7)
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AUTHORS’ RESPONSE
We greatly appreciate Dr. Bavitz’s kind words and his interest in hypertension in dentistry for over 20 years. We
completely agree that encouraging dentists to obtain accurate blood pressure (BP) measurements will educate patients
about the importance of hypertension while contributing to
diagnosing new office hypertension in patients that may not
have access to BP measurements. We also appreciate his
support in using a simple functional capacity assessment
concurrently with BP measurement for especially complex
dental procedures, rather than simply canceling the procedure due to elevated office BP measurements. We agree
that a multicenter randomized trial would be useful, but
likely not practical, owing to the cost. We would suggest
that for complex elective dental procedures that patient
should correctly measure home BP twice daily, when
awakening and at bedtime the week before the procedure.
This would importantly assess hypertension control and if it
is elevated in office before the procedure, while normal at
home, then white-coat anxiety would be the source of
elevation and easily treated by sedation. n
Steven A. Yarows, MD
Chelsea Family and Internal Medicine
IHA
Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine
University of Michigan Health System
Chelsea, MI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2020.05.012
Copyright ª 2020 American Dental Association. All rights reserved.
OPIOID AND ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIBING
We thank Roberts and colleagues for a wonderful March
JADA study titled “Antibiotic and Opioid Prescribing for
Dental-Related Conditions in Emergency Departments:
United States, 2012 Through 2014 (Roberts RM, Bohm MK,
Bartoces MG, Fleming-Dutra KE, Hicks LA, Chalmers NI.
JADA. 2020;151[3]:174-181.e1) using IBM MarketScan
Research Databases in Treatment Pathways data that draw
attention to opioid prescribing in hospital emergency departments (EDs) for dental problems. We have published in
JADA about ED visits for dental problems and found that over
1.4 million occur each year in the United States.1 Inserting
this context into the Roberts and colleagues’ study finding
that about 40% of dental-related ED visits result in an
opioid prescription and about 55% result in an antibiotic
prescription help quantify the issue.
Problematically, physicians have limited knowledge of oral
health and prescribe opioids and antibiotics to postpone the
need for dental intervention. Importantly, as we write this
letter to the editor, dentists around the country are being
advised to stop elective care in response to the COVID-19
crisis. Many dental offices are choosing to practice aerosolfree dentistry, which essentially means postponing dental
services.
475
During this crisis, we must pay heed to Roberts and colleagues’ study, which shows that, when direct emergency
dental care is inaccessible, clinicians frequently resort to antibiotics and opioids. Prescribing both have consequences, but
opioids have been identified as a gateway drug for heroin2 and
fentanyl3 and are associated with persistent use and abuse.4
2018 was the first in several years that opioid-related mortality actually fell in the United States.5,6 Dentists and physicians
must be very cautious to prevent a trend reversal and
consequent worsening of the opioid crisis in 2020 and
beyond. n
Romesh P. Nalliah, DDS
Clinical Professor
Associate Dean for Patient Services
University of Michigan School of Dentistry
Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network
(Michigan OPEN)
Ann Arbor, MI
Chad Brummett, MD
Associate Professor,
Co-Director, Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network
(Michigan OPEN)
Director, Anesthesia Clinical Research
Director, Division of Pain Research
Michigan Medicine
Ann Arbor, MI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2020.05.013
ª 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dental
Association.
1. Allareddy V, Rampa S, Lee MK, Allareddy V, Nalliah RP. Hospital-based emergency
department visits involving dental conditions: profile and predictors of poor outcomes
and resource utilization. JADA. 2014;145(4):331-337.
2. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Prescription opioids and heroin: Prescription opioid
use is a risk factor for heroin use. Available at: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/
research-reports/relationship-between-prescription-drug-heroin-abuse/prescription-opioid-userisk-factor-heroin-use. Accessed April 16, 2020.
3. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Fentanyl. Available at: https://www.drugabuse.
gov/drugs-abuse/fentanyl. Accessed April 16, 2020.
4. Harbaugh CM, Nalliah RP, Hu HM, Englesbe MJ, Waljee JF, Brummett CM.
Persistent opioid use after wisdom tooth extraction. JAMA. 2018;320(5):504-506.
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Opioid overdose: drug overdose deaths.
Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html. Accessed April 17, 2020.
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Opioid Data Analysis and Resources:
trends in death ratesdoverdose death rates involving opioids, by type, United States,
1999-2018. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/analysis.html. Accessed
April 17, 2020.
PREVENTIVE ORAL HEALTH SERVICES
In an article published in the April issue of JADA titled
“Impact of a Medicaid Policy on Preventive Oral Health
Services for Children With Intellectual Disabilities, Developmental Disabilities, or Both” (Kranz AM, Ross R, Sorbero
M, Kofner A, Stein BD, Dick AW. JADA. 2020;151[4]:255264.e3), the authors analyze the use of preventive oral health
services (POHS) in medical offices for children with
476
intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, or both
(IDD).1 This study concluded that children younger than 3
years with IDD in states with Medicaid policies that allowed
for administration of POHS in medical offices were more
likely to receive those services than children in states
without these types of policies for POHS. This study
emphasizes the importance of state Medicaid policies
including accommodations for the administration of POHS
in medical offices for children with IDD. It is imperative
that state Medicaid policies also accommodate for adults
with IDD, especially in states without Medicaid dental
benefits for adults.
Poor oral health can be easily prevented through simple oral
hygiene practices, such as brushing, flossing, and consistent
dental follow-ups.2 Despite the ease in poor oral health
prevention, there is still a high rate of poor oral health seen
in adults with intellectual disabilities.1 Many adults with
special health care needs (SHCN) are unable to afford
private dental insurance and are often enrolled in Medicaid;
however, in states like Alabama where dental coverage is
not included for adults on Medicaid, these patients are often
left without a dental home to provide these important
POHS.2 Low Medicaid reimbursement rates also often deter
dentists from seeing patients enrolled in Medicaid in states
with Medicaid policies that do provide dental coverage for
adults.
These obstacles emphasize the need for creating alternative
routes for administration of POHS in medical offices for adults
with IDD during regular visits. With advances in medical care,
many children with SHCN are able to live longer, contributing to
a rise in adults with SHCN, so this expansion of POHS for adults
is an important endeavor.2 This article by Kranz and colleagues
calling for improvements in minimizing barriers for Medicaidinsured children with IDD in receiving POHS is timely and
should be followed by a call for mimicking these same improvements for adults with IDD, especially in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic and the decrease in discretionary spending available
for most of the US population. Now, more than ever, the cost
efficiency of providing preventive services is paramount. n
Bhakti Desai, DMD, BS
Fourth-Year Dental Student
School of Dentistry
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2020.05.014
ª 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dental
Association.
1. Ward LM, Cooper SA, Hughes-McCormack L, Macpherson L, Kinnear D. Oral
health of adults with intellectual disabilities: a systematic review. J Intellect Disabil Res.
2019;63(11):1359-1378.
2. Guideline on management of dental patients with special health care needs. Pediatr
Dent. 2016;38(5):67-72.
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