Leslie S.T. Fang, MD, PhD, a clinician-teacher at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and a pharmacology and physiology specialist, is offering a three-credit study at home course, “The New ADA Policy on Opioid Prescriptions.”
Designed exclusively for dentists, the three-hour class reviews all of the safety protocols and regulations related to controlled substances. Fang also teaches dentists how to optimize the use of non-narcotic painkillers. Participants also will receive The Ultimate Cheat Sheets: The Practical Guide for Dentists, which serves as the textbook for the class.
“The ADA’s policy on opioids is designed to protect patients, but it will also safeguard dentists,” Fang said.
Fang estimates that only about 10% of dental patients will experience significant post-operative or post-treatment pain, while only about 5% will feel severe pain. The Drug Enforcement Agency, state regulators, and the ADA have deliberately set the bar high for dentists before they are allowed to prescribe any narcotic, Fang says.
“You’re going to take one look at this and say, ‘Wait a second here. You guys are making it painful to prescribe narcotics,” which is the objective, Fang said. “The whole point is to dissuade you from using an excessive, particularly unnecessary, amount of narcotics.”
In addition to outlining the dental implications of the top 150 drugs prescribed in the United States, Ultimate Cheat Sheets specifically addresses the ADA’s new policy on opioid prescriptions. It includes everything dentists require to stay abreast of the constantly changing Food and Drug Administration mandates, lifesaving algorithms, and the steady stream of new drugs and their interactions, Fang says.
The New ADA Policy on Opioid Prescriptions costs $169.95. For more information, call (855) 861-5106 or visit drfangonline.com.
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