Kids Dental Insurance, Unused dental surgery prescriptions may help fuel opioid epidemic
The United States is in the midst of a prescription opioid epidemic. Evidence suggests people who abuse prescription opioids often use leftover pills that were prescribed for friends or family members. Now, new research finds over half of opioids prescribed to patients who have dental surgery, such as wisdom tooth removal, are not used.
A report on the study, by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, is published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.