Dental Assistants working with Drug Users

Dental Assistants are used to working with patients who are suffering from poor
dental hygiene. Statistics show more than 10.5 million people in the United States
are affected by drug and alcohol use. Substance abuse is easily recognizable by
Dental Assistants. Many parents are left completely dumbfounded when the Dental
Assistant has to inform them that their child appears to have a drug dependency and
it is affecting their oral health. Types of drug abuse Dental Assistants encounter
include sedatives, barbiturates, and narcotics.

The effects of drug use in relation to oral health care include missing dental
appointments, fear, anxiety, cravings for sweets, the risk of infection from
Hepatitis B and HIV, oral neglect, periodontal disease, gingivitis, and painful
gums. It is easy to see from this list how taking drugs can lead to ongoing oral
health issues. If the drug use continues tooth lose and inflamed gum areas may
increase.

Dental Assistants are often consulted when individuals call the dental office or
come in complaining of severe tooth pain. This can be a ploy on the patient�s
behalf to obtain drugs from the dental facility, either in the office or in the
form of a prescription. Dental Assistants need to watch for such scenarios and
listen to their gut reaction in such cases. Often, these individuals will come in
at closing time, get a prescription and an appointment to return the next morning.
They get the prescription filled, but never show up for the appointment.

Since drug use is so common, Dental Assistants and other dental staff should be
properly trained in the areas of drug use, drug interactions, and promoting drug
treatment. If your employer does not offer such training, it is important that you
bring it to their attention. In the mean time, it is your responsibility to train
yourself by educating yourself in these areas. You can do so with textbooks or
online materials.

Dental Assistants can provide patients with education, early intervention, and
motivation to seek treatment for drug use. Often Dental Assistants can help the
patient find a treatment program to look into. It is important for the Dental
Assistant to treat the patient with respect, but fully disclose the risks involved
in continued drug use as well as they affects to their dental health. This is where
those valuable communication skills come in to play.

Dental Assistants need to be very careful when providing dental care to drug users.
Since the types of drugs they use generally aren�t disclosed, it is unknown what
types of behaviors they will display. They may become violent or experience a
chemical reaction when treated with a local anesthetic.

Treating patients who use drugs also raises the risk of being exposed to
communicable diseases. All precautions need to be taken to protect yourself. Most
dental facilities have policies and procedures in place for dealing with
individuals who come in for appointments under the influence of drugs and other
substances. However, for ongoing drug users, you might not even know they have been
using anything prior to treating them.

As a Dental Assistant, if you suspect a patient has been using drugs, approach the
situation confidentially and carefully. Your main goal is to make sure other
patients and staff members are not at risk of being harmed. You have the right as a
Dental Assistant to refuse treatment to anyone for any reason. While most Dental
Assistants don�t exercise this right often, there is not reason to put yourself or
others at risk.

Drug use can adversely affect an individual�s oral health. Dental Assistants can
offer then assistance with getting treatment for drug use. They can also educate
the patient on the effects of drug use. However, this is a gray area where Dental
Assistants need to procedure based on the observations of the patient and the
policies and procedures in place for the dental facility they work for.

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