How do we treat dental patients under influence of marijuana?
Date
2020
DOI
Authors
Grover, Simran
Sonkar, Jyoti
Kong, Celeste V.
Version
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Marijuana is the third most widely used illicit substance in the United States.
In the past 20 years, its use has increased 30-fold;
It is estimated that 22.2 million Americans of age 12 years and older report current marijuana use.1
Massachusetts reported that 45% of adults between the age of 18-25 years used marijuana along with 22% increase in marijuana consumption in 2017 after legalization.2
This review explores the latest trends in the use of marijuana and reviews oral health implications and guidelines for treating dental patients under the influence. Dental patient on marijuana use are high and impaired to provide informed consent, these patients are most often noncompliant, long term treatment prognosis are questionable. Such patients also often seek cosmetic dental treatment, such as veneers and whitening, due to these unaesthetic dental complications; this represents another opportunity for the dentist to discuss suspected substance misuse, provide appropriate referrals for treatment, and encourage cessation of use as part of the treatment process prior to initiating any cosmetic treatments that may otherwise fail.
Description
License
CC0 1.0 Universal