A routine dental procedure can lead minors to a lifetime of addiction to painkillers — but not if their parents’ benefit plans are vigilant about monitoring opioid prescriptions.
Benefit provider UnitedHealthcare decided to rethink their prescription painkiller policies after reading studies by Stanford University and the Centers for Disease Control that say teenagers are at-risk of becoming addicted to opioids after having wisdom tooth surgery. The CDC says 70% of minors undergoing the procedure receive an opioid prescription; Stanford’s research says 6% of those teens become addicted.
