An analysis of current analgesic preferences for endodontic pain management.
A descriptive, cross sectional survey was developed to determine the preferences of endodontists when prescribing analgesics. Eleven clinical scenarios describing common endodontic diagnoses or procedures with specified severity of pain were provided. A survey was sent to 310 AAE members and 63 responded, providing a 20% response rate. Respondents were given various choices for analgesic prescription including various dosages of ibuprofen or acetaminophen (APAP), or combination narcotic medications. Data were analyzed by chi2 tests. Non-narcotics were preferred over narcotics for all clinical situations. Significantly more respondents selected ibuprofen 600 mg (4x a day) regardless of the severity of preoperative or postoperative pain (p<0.001). Educators and board-certified AAE members were less likely than nonboard certified AAE members to manage their patient's perceived severe pain with narcotic analgesics.
Mickel
André K
AK
Case School of Dental Medicine, Graduate Endodontics, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. axm69@cwru.edu
Wright
Andrew P
AP
Chogle
Sami
S
Jones
Jefferson J
JJ
Kantorovich
Igor
I
Curd
Francis
F
D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007052:Ibuprofen / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012390:Root Canal Therapy; D014098:Toothache / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000700:Analgesics; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D004338:Drug Combinations; D007052:Ibuprofen