F14: Contemporary Dental Pharmacology 2024: Evidence-Based Considerations

Dental care requires an understanding of the current, evidence-based role of drugs in overall patient management, particularly with regard to medically compromised patients. This lecture is designed to familiarize dentists and dental team members with current, important issues in the use of drug therapy, with an emphasis on scientific evidence to support therapeutic decisions.

Educational Objectives:

• Select appropriate antibiotics for orofacial infections based on current scientific evidence;
• Understand and apply guidelines for the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in dentistry;
• Select local anesthetics based on reviews of comparative efficacy and the clinical characteristics of local anesthetics, including evidence-based algorithms for pulpal anesthesia of the adult dentition;
• Develop strategies for the use of basic emergency drugs for the general dental practice using non-intravenous routes of administration.