Characteristics Associated With Opioid and Antibiotic Prescribing by Dentists

The objective of this study is to identify county-level characteristics that may be high-impact targets for opioid and antibiotic interventions to improve dental prescribing. Prescriptions during 2012–2017 were extracted from the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription database. Primary outcomes were yearly county-level antibiotic and opioid prescribing rates. Multivariable negative binomial regression identified associations between prescribing rates and county-level characteristics. All analyses occurred in 2020. Over time, dental opioid prescribing rates decreased by 20% (from 4.02 to 3.22 per 100 people), whereas antibiotic rates increased by 5% (from 6.85 to 7.19 per 100 people). Higher number of dentists per capita, higher proportion of female residents, and higher proportion of residents aged