Community Chat

[smoochy]

all of your responses are interesting. The practice I go to is, in my opinion, totally legit, stays up to date on current best practices. If I had to guess why this happened, I'd speculate the dentists don't want the liability associated with prescription narcotic pain meds. I get it. If indeed that's why. But then you better not pull teeth. Although a couple of years ago they had a sketchy dentist who left unexpectedly and in a hurry. Maybe he did something that got them in trouble. Who knows. Anyhow my dear PCP ordered 21 percocets. I'm set for a long time, lol

[smoochy]

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@Bookplate wrote:

I have had a lot of painful dental work in my life and have never run into this.  If this was indeed the case, then the dentist should have informed you of this beforehand so you could have been prepared.

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yes I completely agree

[drizzellla]

@smoochy I think you may have come up with an excellent explanation. Maybe the Dental Practice's Liability Insurance rate is more favorable if they don't dispense pain killer drugs.

I know that the DEA and States are looking and legislating the dispensing of pain killers.

Several months ago I was unable to pass a kidney stone. The hospital did prescribe a pain killer. When I went to have the prescriptions filled at my local pharmacy said they did not have the drug that was prescribed and said they had not had it for several weeks. They said they could call other pharmacies in the area but they had tried previously and the other pharmacies also did not have the drug in stock.

Maybe because your General Practitioner knew you well, they had not issue giving you the pain killer and you didn't have a long track record with the Dental Practice.

[Shelbelle]

Even if they dont dispense so called Killer Drugs they certainly can give you RX for 600 or 800 mg Ibuprofen. 

[Jk9]

@Shelbelle I can't take ibuprofen at all and certainly can't be prescribed 400 to 800 mg.  There are a lot of factors at play in pain meds.  However, I know that there are lots of regulation changes in prescribing meds now.

[Shelbelle]

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@Jk9 wrote:

@Shelbelle I can't take ibuprofen at all and certainly can't be prescribed 400 to 800 mg.  There are a lot of factors at play in pain meds.  However, I know that there are lots of regulation changes in prescribing meds now.

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Understood, but to send a patient home after 3 hours of serious dental work with no mention of pain meds to me is negligent. He should have explained his reasons for no drugs and offered her other solutions such as calling her doc for her and asking the doc to be of help if needed. 

[ByrdieK]

I had my two front teeth pulled by an oral surgeon last year and left the office with a "flipper" in my mouth. Yes, I was prescribed pain killers which I took for a few days. And I had a detailed page of aftercare instructions. The swelling made the flipper very painful to remove, but once the swelling went down it was fine. Healing was pretty fast.

good luck and I hope it heals quickly for you.

[smoochy]

@Shelbelle  yes even 600 or 800 mg of ibuprofen would have helped. 

@drizzellla my husband said that too-about their insurance rates. 

I have a seven yr relationship with my Internist (my PCP) He does know me well and knows that I am not a "drug seeker"  my dentist is much less familiar with me. He seems like a good guy, very caring. Was super attentive during the procedures, making sure I wasn't in pain and gave me a couple of breaks. 

Interesting to note- I had nitrous oxide in addition to the lidocaine shots. Some dental offices won't offer it any more, again, due to liability issues. 

None of this would be happening if substance abusers hadn't taInted the pain relief protocols for those who have legitimate needs. The ppl who go to the ER and say they're in pain, it's  10/10, and they're "allergic" to OTCs and can only take dilaudid 😉🙄🙄

[Icegoddess]

My dentist doesn't do invasive procedures like root canals and implants. I would assume that would also include teeth extractions.  He sends you to a specialist for those things.  

[shoekitty]

Rules and regulations are different each state.  Here in California. Narcotic Pain drugs are hard to get. Especially, oxy, norco and such.   You need to meet requirements.  most dentists I have seen I personally have never needed any pain killers.  I am allergic to all NSAIDS so it makes it hard. My friends and family have gotten narcotics from Dentists.maybe Smoochy misunderstood   They do try high dose, like 800 mg Motrin in some cases, not narcotics first. 

here in California some Primary drs can give long term , maintanence pain killers. Others they send to Pain Management drs.  You should not have to suffer with dental pain. Glad your other doctor was able to help