MID-YEAR VIRTUAL SEMINAR
Saturday, October 29, 2022

Pharmacology in Dentistry

Dentists share with physicians the distinct and unique privilege of the unsupervised prescribing of medications to fellow human beings. Dental Assistants play a large role in this endeavor often actually writing the prescription prior to signature as well as counseling the patients in this regard. Some patients will feel more comfortable asking the dental assistant questions about medications either in person, on the phone or acting as liaison between dentist and patient.

With this privilege comes great responsibility. Dentistry far more so than other healing arts and sciences, has traditionally been involved in “production.” In our case, production of devices, appliances or other dental creations to be inserted into patients’ mouths. Because of this structure and fee model, dentists often do not avail themselves of the full scope of medications that they are licensed to provide.  In this course we will delineate the full team of medications relevant to dental practice and not just the traditional antibiotics and pain meds.  For the reasons already mentioned Dental Assistants should be familiar with and have a working knowledge of these drugs. An additional emphasis will include California opioid prescribing laws and familiarization with common cannabis products.