Helping dentists avoid prescribing opioids to teens and young adults
Empowering dentists to reduce opioid prescriptions to young people
This project uses dentist education, patient information, and blister-packed non-opioid pain medicine to reduce opioid prescriptions after tooth extractions for teens and young adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Kentucky NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Lexington, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11247498 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you need a tooth pulled, your dentist will get special training and advice (academic detailing) on safer pain care for teens and young adults. You will get clear information about pain options and may be given a blister pack of non-opioid pain medicine instead of an opioid prescription. The researchers will track how often opioids are prescribed before and after this approach across participating dental clinics. Early work will refine the materials and delivery, and later phases will test whether the combined approach reduces opioid prescriptions.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adolescents and young adults having tooth extractions at participating dental clinics are the ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People undergoing complex oral surgeries, those with chronic severe pain, or patients treated outside participating clinics may not receive benefit from this approach.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could reduce how often teens and young adults receive opioid prescriptions after dental work and lower their risk of opioid misuse or overdose.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies show that non-opioid pain plans and clinician education can cut opioid prescribing after dental procedures, though combining academic detailing with blister-pack medication dispensing is a newer strategy.
Where this research is happening
Lexington, United States
- University of Kentucky — Lexington, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Oyler, Douglas — University of Kentucky
- Study coordinator: Oyler, Douglas
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.