Drug interactions important for periodontal therapy

Medicamentos comumente prescritos na odontologia e suas principais interações medicamentosas: revisão de literatura

Este artigo trata de uma revisão bibliográfica sobre a avaliação dos medicamentos comumente prescritos na odontologia e suas principais interações medicamentosas. Os objetivos incluíram, avaliar os medicamentos comumente prescritos pelo cirurgião-dentista e observar como suas possíveis interações medicamentosas podem influenciar no atendimento dos pacientes na clínica odontológica. A metodologia utilizada foi uma pesquisa bibliográfica, por meio da consulta de livros e de busca em bases de dados eletrônicos. Diariamente o cirurgião-dentista depara-se com casos de infecção, dor, processos inflamatórios e ansiedade na clínica odontológica, devendo sanar os problemas que acometem a cavidade oral e causam esses desconfortos ao paciente. Além disso, fármacos sem receita, ou até mesmo plantas medicinais, são rotineiramente utilizados pelos pacientes como proposta terapêutica. Sendo assim, o profissional necessita de amplo conhecimento sobre farmacologia e interações medicamentosas para que o tratamento seja efetivo e não ocorra piora do estado clínico do paciente. O conhecimento dessas interações capacita o cirurgião-dentista a minimizar o risco de interações medicamentosas através de um ajuste da dosagem ou mudança do esquema posológico. Concluiu-se que é de extrema importância o conhecimento do cirurgião-dentista sobre as medicações que prescreve em sua prática clínica, a fim de evitar as possíveis interações medicamentosas e tornar, dessa forma, suas prescrições medicamentosas seguras para o paciente.

Antidepressants relevant to oral and maxillofacial surgical practice

Background:

Depression is commonly associated with a high-carbohydrate diet, lack of interest in proper oral hygiene and xerostomia connected to the use of antidepressants. Patients often consult their dentists as a result of changes affecting the hard dental substance and the soft-tissues.

Aim:

The aim of this study was to identify adverse drug interactions between the antidepressants and medications commonly administered in dentistry in order to give practicing dentists an overview of the scientific literature.

Objective:

The objective is to identify the adverse drug interactions between antidepressants and medication commonly administered in dentistry.

Study Design:

The literature search was performed using PubMed, Cochrane and the specific search items. The review (1984-2009) focused on medicines used in dental practice (vasoconstrictors, non-opioid analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, antifungals and benzodiazepines).

Results:

There are various drug interactions between antidepressants and medicines used in dentistry. When two or more drugs are co-administered, a drug interaction must always be anticipated though many of the interactions are potential problems, but do not seem to be real clinical issues.

Conclusion:

The probability of a drug interaction can be minimized by careful history-taking, skillful dose adjustment and safe administration of the therapeutic agent.

Potentially serious drug-drug interactions among community-dwelling older adult dental patients

OBJECTIVES

Reducing adverse drug events, including those resulting from drug-drug interactions, will be a health safety issue of increasing importance for dental practitioners in the coming decades as greater numbers of older adults seek oral health care. The purpose of this study was to identify prescription drugs with the potential for serious interactions and estimate prevalent use among older adults visiting the dentist.

STUDY DESIGN

The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey is an ongoing series of nationally representative surveys of Medicare beneficiaries. Potentially serious drug interactions were selected with the use of published work by Partnership to Prevent Drug-Drug Interactions. Drug interactions were identified and prevalence estimates made for community-dwelling older adults visiting the dentist. Analyses were completed to test associations between sociodemographic and health-related variables and the use of prescription drugs with the potential for serious interactions.

RESULTS

Overall, 3.4% of those visiting the dentist were estimated to have been prescribed drugs with the potential for a serious drug interaction. Drugs commonly prescribed in dentistry with the potential for serious interactions include the benzodiazepines, macrolide antibiotics, and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory analgesics.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding potentially harmful drug combinations, their clinical consequences, and the frequency with which implicated drugs are being prescribed will assist practitioners in clinically managing patients and avoiding inappropriate prescribing.