Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:Buprenorphine is under scrutiny because of the development of xerostomia and caries. The purpose of this article was to inform dental care professionals about the oral effects of buprenorphine and to increase knowledge and awareness of medication-assisted treatment in the management of opioid use disorder (OUD). CASE DESCRIPTION/METHODS:In 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about xerostomia and caries associated with the use of transmucosal (sublingual and buccal formulations) buprenorphine. Dental health care professionals should instruct patients taking buprenorphine on how to prevent these dental issues by means of rinsing with water and swallowing once the drug has been completely dissolved, followed by toothbrushing at least 1 hour after taking the drug. In addition, a fluoride supplement should be prescribed. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS:It is imperative for dentists to recognize buprenorphine as medication-assisted treatment and to recognize a patient as having an OUD. While taking buprenorphine, the patient should have more frequent oral health care appointments, including home care instructions and caries risk assessment to monitor for caries and xerostomia so that treatment, if indicated, could be initiated as soon as possible. In addition, the dentist's role in OUD is to make sure patients follow the treatment recommendations and use the buprenorphine and to not have them discontinue because of potential caries risk.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors for current hand musculoskeletal pain in dental students at a dental school. Methods: 1,889 dental students and postgraduate residents were recruited from the clinics at New York University College of Dentistry to participate in a closed-ended survey on hand pain. Results: The close-ended survey was completed by 373 dental students (20% response rate) of which 30.6% were D2, 30.6% D3, 27.2% D4, and 11.6% postgraduate. 235 (63.0%) reported musculoskeletal pain of the hand/wrist/fingers while a student at the school. The majority who reported pain responded that it lasted seconds (21.7%) or minutes (42.5%) in duration. However, 35.3% of those with pain described it as moderate or severe, of whom 26.0% reported visiting a physician for their symptoms. There was no overall statistically significant difference in hand/wrist/finger pain by year in dental school training. Conclusions: Hand musculoskeletal pain may be common among dental students and residents and can be severe for some individuals. Future research should consider the contributions of dental school training on hand pain among students (potentially combined with other factors like mobile phone, tablet, and computer use), as well as implementation of preventive ergonomic training.