Week in Review: New Legal Case | Latest opioids reports | U.S. dentists born abroad

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

Have you ever had a patient become not just disruptive but who had to be removed from your office by the police? In their latest Legal Cases column, William S. Spiegel and Dr. Marc Leffler present just such a case in which a patient became disruptive after incomplete restorative work. Read more to learn how the case was resolved and what you can do to help your practice.

Also this week, we covered two important reports on opioid prescription, use, and abuse. We start with a major new study that reported that opioid prescriptions by dentists and oral surgeons may lead to a statistically significant increased risk of persistent opioid use and abuse for adolescents and young adults. Learn more.

The other major opioid-related news this week concerns their prescription to women who are pregnant. Is it safe to prescribe opioids for these patients? A new guide from the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center was created to help dentists answer this very question. Learn more.

Almost a quarter of U.S. dentists were born in other countries, according to the authors of a new research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Find out more.

As the U.S. population continues to grow and age, we'll need more dentists and other healthcare practitioners. That's why this research about where U.S. dentists were born is important: It highlights the need to create the conditions so that the best practitioners have the opportunity to grow, thrive, and innovate here in the U.S.