This week we are going to profile a library database that would be especially useful to students in the Dental programs at Harcum: Lexicomp for Dentistry. This database will provide you with drug information that you may need for your studies and your career. In it you will find tools to help answer prescribing, diagnosis and treatment questions, with dental-specific pharmacology on prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and natural products. Although this version of Lexicomp contains material that is focused on the needs of people in the dental profession, students in other Allied Health programs should be able to find useful information in this database as well.

To access Lexicomp for Dentistry, click on the Databases icon under Quick Links on the Library’s homepage. This will bring you to an alphabetical list of all of our databases. Scroll down to Lexicomp and select it. Since Lexicomp is a subscription database, you will need to enter a username and password if you are off campus. To find this information, log into Harcum Hatch and you will see a purple icon for Library Database Passwords on the righthand side of the bottom row. Click on this icon and choose the username and password for Lexicomp.

Purple box with an image of Trout Library and "Library Database Passwords" underneath.

To do a drug search in Lexicomp, simply enter the name of the drug into the search box, click on the blue search button, and then click on the link under Dental Lexi-Drugs in the upper left-hand corner of the resulting screen. You will be brought to a screen that contains a Dental Lexi-Drugs monograph record, the main record in the database. The following are some features of a Dental Lexi-Drugs monograph record:

  • Brand names
  • Generic availability
  • Pharmacologic category
  • Use, including off-label if applicable
  • Allergy considerations
  • Adverse reactions
  • Effects on dental treatment and on bleeding
  • Dosing for various categories of patients
  • Pregnancy and breastfeeding considerations

The following is an image of the top portion of the Dental Lexi-Drugs record for Penicillin G Procaine (You would scroll down to view the rest of the record):

In upper left: Lexicomp for Dentistry; Blue bar beneath: Home, Alerts/Interactions, Drug I.D., Patient Education, Calculators, More Clinical Tools; Beneath: Pencillin G Procaine (Dental Lexi-Drugs); Beneath: Outline, Alphabetical: Beneath: List of Categories; Hyperlinks to the right: Monograph, Images, Adult Patient Education, Pediatric Patient Education; Beneath hyperlinks: Pronunciation, FDA Approval Date, Allergy Considerations, Brand Names: Canada, Brand Names: Mexico, Generic Availability (US), Index Terms, Pharmacologic Category, Use.

As you can see in the blue bar and hyperlinks across the top of the record, Lexicomp contains a number of other useful features. Some include:

  • Drug alerts and interactions
  • Drug I.D. (Enter characteristics of an unknown drug to help identify it.)
  • Drug images
  • Adult and pediatric patient education (Answers common questions patients may ask)
  • Various types of calculators, including those for dosage and unit conversion
  • Toxicology of substances

More detailed instruction on the contents and use of Lexicomp for Dentistry can be found in our video database tutorial. Choose Database Tutorials under Quick Links on the Library’s homepage and then select Lexicomp.

Remember that if you have questions about this resource or any other, please don’t hesitate to ask us. You may visit the Library during the hours posted on the Library's homepage, email us at library@harcum.edu, or call us at 610-526-6085.

 

    

Bill Fanshel

Evening/Weekend Librarian

wfanshel@harcum.edu

610-229-9311