Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (
PDMP) are statewide databases that collect data on prescription of
controlled substances. New York State mandates prescribers to consult the
PDMP registry before prescribing a
controlled substance such as
opioid analgesics. The effect of mandatory
PDMP on
opioid drug prescriptions by dentists is not known. This study investigates the impact of mandatory
PDMP on frequency and quantity of
opioid prescriptions by dentists in a dental urgent care center. Based on the sample size estimate, we collected patient records of a 3-month period before and two consecutive 3-month periods after the mandatory
PDMP implementation and analyzed the data on number of visits, treatment types and
drug prescriptions using Chi-square tests. For patients who were prescribed
pain medications, 452 (30.6%), 190 (14.1%), and 140 (9.6%) received
opioid analgesics in the three study periods respectively, signifying a statistically significant reduction in the number of
opioid prescriptions after implementation of the mandatory
PDMP (p<0.05). Total numbers of prescribed
opioid pills in a 3-month period decreased from 5096 to 1120, signifying a 78% reduction in absolute quantity. Prescriptions for
non-opioid analgesics acetaminophen increased during the same periods (p<0.05). We conclude that the mandatory
PDMP significantly affected the prescription pattern for
pain medications by dentists. Such change in prescription pattern represents a shift towards the evidence-based prescription practices for
acute postoperative pain.