Key Points
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Acute dental pain often leads to attendances at accident and emergency (A&E) departments outside normal working hours.
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Three cases of unintentional overdoses of simple analgesia secondary to acute dental pain, with potentially serious consequences, are reported here.
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An accurate drug history from patients with acute dental pain is vital; every effort should be made to educate patients about simple analgesia and access to emergency dental care, especially outside normal working hours.
Abstract
Three cases of unintentional overdose with simple analgesics are presented. Over a two month period, these patients presented to the accident and emergency (A&E) department with acute dental pain, outside normal working hours, having been unable to access emergency dental care. In one case the patient's reason for attendance was to obtain further supplies of analgesics. The patients required admission for assessment of the severity of the overdose in addition to advice about appropriate use of analgesics and advice on access to dental care. None of the patients required treatment for the overdose. These cases serve as a timely reminder of the importance of taking an accurate drug history in emergency situations. They also raise issues of patient education for self medication and access to emergency dental services outside normal working hours.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Mr M W G Gordon, Dr T R J Parke and Dr P T Munro, Consultants in Accident & Emergency Medicine at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, for permission to report these cases. We particularly thank Mr Gordon for details of Case 2.
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Dodd, M., Graham, C. Unintentional overdose of analgesia secondary to acute dental pain. Br Dent J 193, 211–212 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4801525
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4801525
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