Handbook of Dental Therapeutics

It has been estimated that 2–3% of all hospital admissions in Australia are medication-related and 50% are preventable (1, 2). A recent review of data from 44 general medical practices in New Zealand demonstrated that 10.8% of patients experienced medication-related harms over a 3-year period. Most were deemed minor; however, one in five harms were moderate or severe and three patients died due to medication harm (3). The almost 2 million Australians that suffer an adverse event from medicines each year (4) are not all due to an adverse drug reactions (ADR), but are also caused by human and systemic medication errors (Table 3.1). Patients claiming a history of drug allergy are a daily occurrence in dental practice, so this chapter includes a description of allergy physiology, various adverse reactions due to drugs, with detail regarding immune-mediated allergic reactions, focussing on Type 1 and 4 reactions. As many claimed allergic reactions by patients are false, how to correctly diagnose and manage actual drug allergies will also be discussed.