Prevalence
Substance and opioid abuse are critical public health concerns in the US. Opioids are drugs commonly prescribed to alleviate pain; however, their misuse can lead to addiction, overdose, and death. According to Volkow and Blanco (2020), approximately 50,000 people in the US died from opioid-involved overdoses in 2019 alone. The opioid crisis has become a national emergency, prompting researchers to investigate the causes, effects, and possible solutions to this.
Factors
Many studies state that dental prescriptions can contribute to opioid misuse and abuse among young adults. Schroeder et al. (2019) determined that dental prescriptions were linked to opioid usage and abuse among young adults in the US. The prescription and issuance of opioids by dental professionals were reported among patients in South Carolina (McCauley et al., 2016; Pach et al., 1995; Volkow & Blanco, 2020). Two other articles discuss the relationship between polysubstance use and the opioid crisis (Compton et al., 2021; Azadfard et al., 2022). Therefore, dental clinicians need to be extremely cautious when choosing to prescribe opioids.
Effects
Substance abuse is also seriously affecting brain development, especially during sensitive periods such as adolescence. A review article by Jordan & Andersen (2017) discusses the risk factors for substance abuse during sensitive periods and highlights the need for prevention and early intervention strategies. Overall, the complexity of polysubstance use requires an integrated public health strategy that takes into account the various factors associated with substance abuse.
Treatment
Treatment options for opioid addiction have evolved. Kreek et al. (2019) provide an overview of current opioid addiction treatment options and related preclinical research. Predictive modeling can be used to identify individuals who are at risk of opioid use and abuse.
Vunikili et al. (2021) have stated that predictive modeling can reduce the harm caused by opioids. Finally, Moss & Carlo (2019) emphasize the need for healthcare providers to be aware of the higher doses required to treat synthetic opioid overdoses. Along with awareness of higher synthetic opioid doses, research on opioid addiction treatment and predictive modeling can help address the crisis.
References
Blanco, C., Wiley, T. R. A., Lloyd, J. J., Lopez, M. F., & Volkow, N. D. (2020). America’s opioid crisis: the need for an integrated public health approach. Translational Psychiatry, 10(1). Web.
Compton, W. M., Valentino, R. J., & DuPont, R. L. (2021). Polysubstance use in the US opioid crisis. Molecular Psychiatry, 26(1), 41-50. Web.
Jordan, C. J., & Andersen, S. L. (2017). Sensitive periods of substance abuse: Early risk for the transition to dependence. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 25, 29–44. Web.
Kreek, M. J., Reed, B., & Butelman, E. R. (2019). Current status of opioid addiction treatment and related preclinical research. Science Advances, 5(10), eaax9140. Web.
McCauley, J. L., Hyer, J. M., Ramakrishnan, V. R., Leite, R. E. P., Melvin, C. L., Fillingim, R. B., Frick, C., & Brady, K. T. (2016). Dental opioid prescribing and multiple opioid prescriptions among dental patients. Journal of the American Dental Association, 147(7), 537–544. Web.
Moss, R. B., & Carlo, D. J. (2019). Higher doses of naloxone are needed in the synthetic opioid era. Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 14(1), 6. Web.
Pach, J., Pach, K., Targosz, D., Winnik, L., & Obara, M. (1995). Acute poisonings with drugs of abuse. Przeglad lekarski, 52(5), 275–280. Web.
Schroeder, A. R., Dehghan, M., Newman, T. B., Bentley, J. P., & Park, K. T. (2019). Association of Opioid Prescriptions From Dental Clinicians for US Adolescents and Young Adults With Subsequent Opioid Use and Abuse. JAMA Internal Medicine, 179(2), 145. Web.
Volkow, N. D., & Blanco, C. (2020). The changing opioid crisis: development, challenges, and opportunities. Molecular Psychiatry, 26(1), 1–16. Web.
Vunikili, R., Glicksberg, B. S., Johnson, K. W., Dudley, J. T., Subramanian, L., & Shameer, K. (2021). Predictive Modelling of Susceptibility to Substance Abuse, Mortality and Drug-Drug Interactions in Opioid Patients. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 4. Web.