[Indicating analgesics in oral health care]

A representative survey amongst Dutch dentists and oral and maxillofacial surgeons showed that almost all of them indicated analgesics regularly. Thirty-five% of the dentists advised their patients in case of one or several tooth extractions to use analgesics. Forty-seven % of these dentists advised using the analgesics before the pain starts. After similar treatments, 89% of the oral and maxillofacial surgeons indicated analgesics and 73% advised taking the analgesic preventatively. Also in the case of other treatments oral and maxillofacial surgeons advised more often than dentists using analgesics preventatively. Dentists usually advised paracetamol and oral and maxillofacial surgeons a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Most dentists and all oral and maxillofacial surgeons thought that they had enough knowledge about the side-effects and interactions of analgesics. The majority of the dentists and oral and maxillofacial surgeons indicated that they would like to be updated on analgesia by post-graduate education occasionally