dental school and prescriptions

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maryanne213

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What sort of medications are dentists allowed to prescribe?

And with most dental school curriculums, how in depth is the information we must learn in terms of human anatomry and science courses? I have heard that at some schools, dental students and med students take the first two years together. Do dental students really have to have such an in depth understanding of the human body etc.??

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maryanne213 said:
What sort of medications are dentists allowed to prescribe? QUOTE]

Hoping for easy Cialis/Lavitra perscription?
 
Never been to med school, so I dunno what the med students learn. Dentists do need a thorough understanding of certain parts of the human body though. Remember, the oral cavity is connected to the whole gastrointestinal tract which in turn is connected to many other parts of the body. Plus, you need to understand how other physiological systems might affect your dental treatment for a patient. For example, you'd probably want to know why would someone with a heart valve defect needs to be prophylaxed with antibiotics before performing any procedures? Or what complications can you expect from someone who is on medication to treat an ulcer problem? There are some parts of the body that they have you dissect that might seem useless, like identifying the gastrocnemius or brachialis muscles...but its way better to practice on such large structures before you screw it up on the head/neck. Finding some of the nerves and vessels seems nearly impossible, I'm always in awe how the OMFS guys can do it on a live patient.

howui3 said:
Hoping for easy Cialis/Lavitra perscription?

Yeah, I really think MARY ANNE needs it for herself.
 
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crazy_sherm said:
Yeah, I really think MARY ANNE needs it for herself.

Women too sometimes need a little help.
 
crazy_sherm said:
Yeah, I really think MARY ANNE needs it for herself.

:laugh: maybe it's for her man then
 
maryanne213 said:
What sort of medications are dentists allowed to prescribe?

And with most dental school curriculums, how in depth is the information we must learn in terms of human anatomry and science courses? I have heard that at some schools, dental students and med students take the first two years together. Do dental students really have to have such an in depth understanding of the human body etc.??
It's a pat answer, but "anything needed for the practice of dentistry." The most common scripts are for pain meds & antibiotics, but there are plenty of others too.
 
ItsGavinC said:
Ditto the pain meds and antibiotics. I've never asked for anything other than PenVK, Vicodin, Clindamycin, and Lortab.


Anything that needs to be given to the patient in order to complete procedures (ativan for example) or manage their pain.
 
The dentist my wife works for once filled a birth control prescription for her because she didn't want to have to pay to get the OBGYN to do it. The first pharmacist wouldn't fill the prescription so she just went to another and he filled it without question.
 
Classes of drugs I'll write Rx's for over the course of a year(or may write for depending on patient needs)

- Antibiotics (common ones - Pen VK, Amoxicillin, Erythromycin, Clindamycin, Augmentin)

- Narcotic pain meds (common ones - Vicodin ES, Tylenol #3, Darvocets, Percocet)

- Non Narcotic Pain meds (common ones - Ultram, Lodine)

- Muscle Relaxants (Common ones - Flexeril, Robaxin)

- Anti-Histames way less now that Claritin is over the counter, but still some Zyrtec every now and then

- Steroids - Solumedrol Dose Pack

- Fluoride tabs

- Albuterol inhalers (hey if one of my asthmatics is out of their's I don't want to take the chance of an attack in my chair!)

That's what I'll write for over the course of a year, and Vicodin and Pen VK probably account for over 1/2 of the Rx's I write a year.
 
Dutchboy said:
The dentist my wife works for once filled a birth control prescription for her because she didn't want to have to pay to get the OBGYN to do it. The first pharmacist wouldn't fill the prescription so she just went to another and he filled it without question.

That's pretty dumb of your wife's dentist. If anything went wrong and she developed complications from whatever birth control pills he prescribed, he would be at fault because it's out of the scope of his expertise. It's not like he gave your wife an exam, which he's not qualified to do in the first place. He just took her word on what pills to prescribe.

Even if it's something you can likely diagnose and treat, if it's not dental related, you don't treat it. For example, if someone comes in complaining about pain come from their upper left quadrant. X-rays are clean, vitality tests are all WNL. You lie the patient back a bit more and the pain goes away. More than likely it a sinusitis. You certainly could treat it, but most people would refer out to cover their ass.
 
That is a nice list of what meds are used in practice... in my practice or oral medicine/oral pathology/ hospital dentistry I use a lot more... but also had 4 years of post dental school training and several fellowships and boards... and have written on pharm (Oral Meds Clinician Guide series)...

Problem is few Rxs written in dental school... additional experience with medically compromised, emergency dental care as in a GPR, AEGD etc will makeyou competent in understanding... writting more.






DrJeff said:
Classes of drugs I'll write Rx's for over the course of a year(or may write for depending on patient needs)

- Antibiotics (common ones - Pen VK, Amoxicillin, Erythromycin, Clindamycin, Augmentin)

- Narcotic pain meds (common ones - Vicodin ES, Tylenol #3, Darvocets, Percocet)

- Non Narcotic Pain meds (common ones - Ultram, Lodine)

- Muscle Relaxants (Common ones - Flexeril, Robaxin)

- Anti-Histames way less now that Claritin is over the counter, but still some Zyrtec every now and then

- Steroids - Solumedrol Dose Pack

- Fluoride tabs

- Albuterol inhalers (hey if one of my asthmatics is out of their's I don't want to take the chance of an attack in my chair!)

That's what I'll write for over the course of a year, and Vicodin and Pen VK probably account for over 1/2 of the Rx's I write a year.
 
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