Pain Management in Pediatric Patients Dr. MarkDonaldson is a clinical professor in the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Montana inMissoula, clinical associate professor in the School of Dentistry at the OregonHealth and Sciences University in Portland, and adjunct professor at the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Donaldson currently serves as associate principal pharmacy advisory solutions for Vizient. The American Dental Association (ADA) released a clinical practice guideline for the pharmacological management of acute dental pain in children in September 2023.1 “The prevalence of toothache in children from birth to 5 years is about 28%, but from age 6 through 10, the prevalence almost doubles to 52%,” says Dr. Mark Donaldson. “Clear guidelines for the appropriate management of orofacial pain in this young population were very much needed.” As the opioid abuse epidemic in the general population continues to unfold in both Canada and the US, overprescribing and mis-prescribing of opioids or narcotic-containing analgesics continues to be a threat to public health. 18 | 2024 | Issue 1
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