Pain Management for Dental Medicine in 2021: Opioids, Coronavirus and Beyond

Steven J Scrivani; David A Keith; Ronald J Kulich; Alexandre F DaSilva; R Bruce Donoff; Shruti Handa; Nicole Holland; Mark A Lerman; Jenna L McCauley; Lori Reisner; Cory M Resnick; Christian S Stohler; Alexis Vasciannie; Matthew Fortino; Michael E Schatman

doi:10.2147/JPR.S319373

Pain Management for Dental Medicine in 2021: Opioids, Coronavirus and Beyond

J Pain Res. 2021 May 24:14:1371-1387. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S319373. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Steven J Scrivani¹, David A Keith², Ronald J Kulich^{1

3}, Alexandre F DaSilva^{4

5}, R Bruce Donoff², Shruti Handa², Nicole Holland⁶, Mark A Lerman⁷, Jenna L McCauley⁸, Lori Reisner^{9

10}, Cory M Resnick^{11

12

13}, Christian S Stohler^{14

15}, Alexis Vasciannie¹, Matthew Fortino^{1

16}, Michael E Schatman^{1

17

18}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Craniofacial Pain and Headache Center, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
² Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Department of Biological and Material Sciences & Prosthodontics, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Headache and Orofacial Pain Effort, University of Michigan, Ann Harbor, MI, USA.
⁵ fNIRS Laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann Harbor, MI, USA.
⁶ Department of Public Health and Community Service, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
⁷ Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
⁹ Department of Pharmaceutical Services, School of Pharmacy University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
¹² Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
¹³ Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
¹⁴ Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁵ Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Public Health & Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
¹⁸ School of Social Work, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.

Abstract

Over the past year our attention has inevitably been on the coronavirus pandemic, the health and welfare of our families, patients, and office staffs as well as the re-opening of our dental practices. In addition, the opioid crisis continues, is very likely to worsen as a result of the pandemic and continues to be a challenge to Dentistry. National public health issues and healthcare disparities continue and have created a global concern for providing evidence-based, adequate pain management in the dental setting. We have brought together a group of national thought leaders and experts in this field who will share their insights on the current state of opioid prescribing in Dentistry and describe some of the exciting work being done in advancing pain management. The learning objectives for this conference proceedings were: Describing the implications of current public health concerns for safe and effective pain management in dental medicine.Identifying risk factors and understanding the current guidelines for the use of opioid and non-opioid medications in dental medicine.Analyzing the interprofessional collaborations necessary for effective pain management in dental medicine.Recognizing the challenges and opportunities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic for the dental profession.Applying evidence-based strategies for managing the complex pain patient in the dental setting.Appraising new and future modalities for the assessment and management of orofacial pain.

Keywords: COVID-19; Dentistry; opioid analgesia; pain management.