Hey guys, interesting new study that shows a much higher risk for addiction when patients are given painkillers for wisdom teeth. This is amazing. A new study showed that when younger patients get opiates for wisdom tooth extraction they were 2.7 times more likely to fill at least two more prescriptions in the next year. For every 100 patients that were treated with opiates for their wisdom tooth extractions one of them went on to develop addiction.
That is pretty eye-opening isn’t it? I am wondering, do we actually really need oxycodone for a silly tooth extraction and take that risk? Would it be better sometimes just to suck it up take some Advil and Motrin and Tylenol and slap some ice on your jaw? Most of the time the pain from an extraction is only bad for the first 24 hours anyways.
Have we forgotten how to deal with pain in this country? I am not saying we always have to buck up and suffer but why is it that 85% of all of the worlds painkillers are prescribed in the United States??? Do they not have pain in other countries? Or are they just better at using other medications? I bet if you have a wisdom tooth extraction and I give you a short course but high doses of Tylenol, Motrin, Neurontin and some Flexeril I bet you would do pretty good. I bet I could get your pain from a 6/10 down to a 3/10. would we really expect no pain after somebody ripped four teeth out of our jaws? somehow we have to be a little realistic too right??? If this was your child what would you want your child to have after wisdom teeth? Tylenol and Motrin and Neurontin or a couple of oxycodone and run the risk in the future??? it is always different when we think about what we would do for our own children rather than us isn’t it??
Stay aliveAndreas J. Edrich MD FASAM ADM MRO “the addiction doc”