Abstract

For many oral medicine conditions, the use of compounded topical therapies that are locally absorbed and act directly at the affected site can provide greater efficacy compared with systemically delivered medications while minimizing systemic side effects. The objective of this study was to characterize the utilization and medications in an academic, hospital-based oral medicine practice. This was a retrospective analysis of outpatients treated at the Center for Oral Disease at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, Massachusetts) during the five-year period from November 2006 through November 2011. Patient prescription and payment information were obtained from the pharmacy’s patient database. Variables included prescription compound, number of prescriptions refilled, prescription cost, and payment contributions from insurance and patients. An electronic medical record review was conducted to obtain patient demographics and diagnoses. There were 510 unique prescriptions corresponding to 423 patients filled during the study period. Four distinct medications comprised the majority (479/510; 94%) of prescriptions filled. The vast majority (94%) of prescriptions filled were at least partially paid for by insurance, with median patient co-pays ranging from $21 (clonazepam solution) to $34 (ketoprofen cream). Compound medications provide an affordable, flexible therapeutic option for patients being treated for a variety of oral medicine conditions.

Related Keywords

• Ali Aboalela, BDS, MMEd
• orofacial disorders
• mouth pain
• oral medicine
• oral sensitivity
• topical preparations
• orofacial pain
• oral dysesthesia
• burning mouth syndrome
• atypical facial pain
• neuropathic pain
• oral lichen planus
• graft vs host disease
• GVHD
• drug costs
• mucosal disease
• temporomandibular disorders
• reimbursement
• clonazepam solution
• tacrolimus solution
• clobetasol solution
• ketoprofen cream
• corticosteroid
• nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• NSAID
• immunosuppressant
• immunosuppressive agent
• benzodiazepine
• inflammation
• inflammatory pain
• anti-inflammatory agent

Related Categories

• DENTAL
• EAR NOSE THROAT
• PEER-REVIEWED
• DOSAGE FORMS/DRUG CARRIERS