ArticlePloS one2023
Association between the COVID-19 outbreak and opioid prescribing by U.S. dentists.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Opioid prescribing after nonsurgical root canal therapy: Findings from The National Dental Practice-Based Research Network.Journal of the American Dental Association (1939) · 2026Article
- Opioid Prescribing by US Dentists and Dental Specialists after Continuing Education.JDR clinical and translational research · 2026Article
- Trends of Opioids and Nefopam Use Among French Children: A Population-Based Study From 2009 to 2023.Clinical drug investigation · 2026Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Opioid Prescribing, Consumption, Pain, and Outcomes after Surgery.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2025Article
- Lean Six Sigma quality improvement approach to implement clinical practice guidelines for prescribing opiates for chronic pain in a primary care setting.BMJ open quality · 2024Article
- Rural-urban differences in dental opioid prescribing among adolescent/young adult and adult Medicaid beneficiaries.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundU.S. data on opioid prescribing by dentists are limited to 2019. More recent data are needed to understand the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on dental opioid prescribing, characterize current practices, and determine if dental opioid stewardship initiatives are still warranted.
objectiveTo evaluate the association between the COVID-19 outbreak and the rate of opioid prescribing by U.S. dentists.
methodsDuring February-April 2023, the authors conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database, which reports 92% of prescriptions dispensed in U.S. retail pharmacies. The authors calculated the monthly dental opioid dispensing rate, defined as the monthly number of dispensed opioid prescriptions from dentists per 100,000 U.S. individuals, during January 2016-February 2020 and June 2020-December 2022. To prevent distortions in trends, data from March-May 2020, when dental opioid dispensing declined sharply, were excluded. Using linear segmented regression models, the authors assessed for level and slope changes in the dental opioid dispensing rate during June 2020.
resultsAnalyses included 81,189,605 dental opioid prescriptions. The annual number of prescriptions declined from 16,105,634 in 2016 to 8,910,437 in 2022 (-44.7%). During January 2016-February 2020, the dental opioid dispensing rate declined -3.9 (95% CI: -4.3, -3.6) per month. In June 2020, this rate abruptly increased by 31.4 (95% CI: 19.3, 43.5) and the monthly decline in the dental opioid dispensing rate slowed to -2.1 (95% CI: -2.6, -1.6) per month. As a result, 6.1 million more dental opioid prescriptions were dispensed during June 2020-December 2022 than would be predicted had trends during January 2016-February 2020 continued. DISCUSSION: U.S. dental opioid prescribing is declining, but the rate of this decline slowed after the COVID-19 outbreak. Findings highlight the continued importance of dental opioid stewardship initiatives.
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Registered trials
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