Interprofessional Management of Chronic Orofacial Pain: A Topic Review, Steps to Improve Collaborative Care, and a Case Example

ABSTRACT

Background

Orofacial pain is a specialty of dentistry that often encounters complex symptoms beyond the scope of dental practice, indicating a role for interprofessional teams in treating chronic orofacial pain.

Discussion

Interprofessional teams often include specialists from neurology, physical therapy, sleep medicine, and behavioral medicine, among others. Interprofessional practices can be difficult to achieve and require a commitment of communication, collaboration, co-location, and organizational support. A complex chronic orofacial pain case exemplifies the challenges for patients receiving sequential or siloed care, including delays in diagnosis, invasive procedures, and worsened disability. Common barriers to collaborative care and possible steps to close these gaps are discussed..

KEYWORDS:

• Pain
• integrated care
• interprofessional care
• orofacial pain
• chronic pain

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kelly M. Wawrzyniak

Kelly Wawrzyniak is a clinical psychologist with a specialty in behavioral medicine and chronic pain. She is the founder and owner of Kelly Wawrzyniak Psychology, LLC, a behavioral medicine psychotherapy practice, and Lumin Edge Consulting, LLC, a clinical research consulting group. Dr. Wawrzyniak was previously an Assistant Professor and Staff Psychologist at the Tufts School of Dental Medicine Craniofacial Pain Clinic. Before this, she was Head of Department, Behavioral Medicine at Boston Pain Care and Executive Director of MedVadis Research. She has published on topics of chronic pain, opioid-related risk, and functional outcomes in pain management.

Naila Ahmed

Naila Ahmed is a student at Northeastern University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Ronald J. Kulich

Ronald Kulich is a Professor at TUFTS School of Dental Medicine. He has responsibilities including development and management of opioid risk assessment protocols for the Massachusetts General Hospital Pain Center and Facial Pain/Headache Center at Tufts School of Dental Medicine.

Shuchi Dhadwal

Shuchi Dhadwal is a Clinical Associate Professor at TUSDM. She also maintains a private practice in Newton MA. Her practice is limited to Orofacial Pain and Dental sleep medicine.