State, Dental Schools, Dental Society Partner to Combat Opioid Epidemic

BOSTON — The Baker-Polito administration, in partnership with the deans of the Commonwealth’s three dental schools and the Mass. Dental Society, announced a first-in-the-nation set of dental-education core competencies for the prevention and management of prescription-drug misuse.

This set of cross-institutional core competencies will ensure that the Commonwealth’s more than 1,800 enrolled undergraduate dental students and 550 advanced graduate dental students receive enhanced training in primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies regarding prescription-drug misuse.

“Educating our dental providers on prescribing practices for opioids is a critical step toward preventing drug misuse as we continue to combat this public-health crisis,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “We are thrilled to stand with the Commonwealth’s dental schools and the Massachusetts Dental Society to introduce our second set of core competencies that are bound to educate our students and help curb this epidemic.”

The Governor’s Working Group on Dental Education on Prescription Drug Misuse was led by state Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel and included key representatives from all three Massachusetts schools of dental medicine — Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and Tufts University School of Dental Medicine — in addition to the Mass. Dental Society and the Mass. Department of Public Health. Each school will tailor the core competencies to complement their existing curricula in order to ensure they are being delivered to all students.

“We applaud the deans’ commitment to increasing their students’ understanding of the use and potential misuse of opioids and for joining the administration in tackling the Commonwealth’s opioid epidemic,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders.

Dr. Raymond Martin, president-elect of the Mass. Dental Society, noted that a patient complaining of acute tooth pain is a common problem that dentists treat, and the dentist must make a professional decision to help resolve the pain after a surgical procedure.

“Effective pain management is an important part of dentistry,” he went on. “The Massachusetts Dental Society supports efforts to balance proper pain management with patient safety. Therefore, we applaud the governor in his initiative to develop core competencies to address the opioid crisis.”