New University of Michigan Study Finds U.S. Dental Opioid Prescriptions Remain Highest Globally Despite Major Declines

University of Michigan study finds U.S. dentists prescribe opioids at 24x the rate of the Netherlands, despite a 27% decline in recent years.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 24, 2026, 3:59 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

The Persistence of High-Volume Dental Prescribing

In a comprehensive analysis of global dental health practices, researchers have identified a striking disparity between the United States and other developed nations regarding the management of oral pain. The study, led by Dr. Kao-Ping Chua of the University of Michigan Medical School, indicates that U.S. patients undergoing routine procedures like tooth extractions are far more likely to receive potent opioid medications than patients in Europe or Australia. Despite a significant downward trend in the volume of these prescriptions, the U.S. maintains the highest dispensing rate among the countries analyzed, suggesting that the "opioid-first" culture in American dentistry has yet to be fully dismantled.

Comparing National Dispensing Rates and Disparities

The data highlights a vast chasm in prescribing habits, particularly when comparing the United States to the Netherlands. By the end of 2024, the Netherlands recorded a dental opioid fill rate of just 83 prescriptions per 100,000 inhabitants. In contrast, the U.S. rate stood at 2,022 per 100,000 people, a figure nearly 24 times higher than the Dutch benchmark. While the U.S. has successfully narrowed the gap with Canada—the country with the second-highest prescribing rate—the sheer volume of narcotics entering American households via dental clinics continues to outpace all other surveyed regions, including the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

The Clinical Risk of Routine Narcotic Exposure

Medical guidelines have increasingly moved away from opioids for routine dental care, emphasizing that non-narcotic alternatives like ibuprofen and acetaminophen are often equally effective for post-surgical pain. The risks associated with even a short-term dental opioid script are substantial, including the potential for long-term dependency, accidental poisoning, and the development of opioid use disorder. Dr. Chua noted that dentists remain a primary source of first-time opioid exposure for adolescents and young adults, a demographic particularly vulnerable to the neurological pathways of addiction.