Oral Health

Pharmacists are a great resource for people when they have a question about dental health, and can advise on minor annoyances that can be treated simply, or larger issues that require a referral to a dentist.

An area that many of our patients don’t consider is how their medications impact on their oral and dental health. Pharmacists can proactively assist with oral health by making people aware of these impacts, and ensuring that the advice they give is up to date with current evidence.

Medications can impact on oral health by reducing saliva production, directly impacting on dentine formation, altering gum tissue growth, altering the immune response, or changing bone metabolism.

At the same time, oral health can impact on the way medications are absorbed or consumed. For instance, buccally absorbed medications may be delayed by poor saliva production or cause discomfort to damaged teeth and infected gums.

Counselling a patient on the impact of medication on dental health becomes an important consideration with long term use. It may not be ideal to explain potential impacts on the mouth when a new medication is prescribed, as the risk of information overload gets in the way of complete counselling. Instead, pharmacists can prioritise these issues on subsequent dispensing while monitoring compliance and side effects.

More information can be viewed in the education modules listed below.

Source: Extract from ajp.com.au/columns/clinical-tips/clinical-tips-oral-health-2/?mc_cid=cc80de2901&mc_eid=9f68ca01fb, Jarrod McMaugh, community pharmacy practitioner with Capital Chemist, viewed 6 August 2018