Need for Implementation of Pharmacovigilance in Dental Care in India

Abstract

The medications which are used for preventing or curing different types of diseases have some risks associated with it. The medications are being prescribed by assessing their risk-benefit ratio. For the purpose of causality assessment, many tools have been developed which ranges from simple to other types of evaluating tools which demands more complex assessment. The causality assessment is an important tool in pharmacovigilance as it helps in determining the probability of ADR and the medications which commonly cause adverse drug reactions. Common disorders where ADRs have been reported are dermatologic, psychiatric, followed by central nervous system and gastrointestinal disorders. Most drugs have ingredients which can pose potential and unpredictable harm; this is especially so with availability of widening range of pharmaceutical drugs with varied potency. To integrate pharmacovigilance into routine clinical practice and in various health tier, much more is required. In this digital age, increasing use of the Internet has resulted in a change in access to all pharmaceutical products and information on them, giving rise to need of more vigilant safety measures. Under-reporting affects both old and new drugs and both serious and non-serious drug reactions. Hence the need for strict compliance of pharmacovigilance in dentistry is necessary.