Pain and Patient Expectations: Using Motivational Interviewing to Promote Best Practices [Webinar]

Although opioid pain medications are no longer considered first line treatment for acute dental pain in the United States, patients and dental providers may still have expectations surrounding their use. In this on-demand webinar, recorded July 17, 2019, we explore the state of the opioid overdose crisis in the U.S., evidence-based recommendations for prescribing opioids and how motivational interviewing can be used to educate patients, align expectations, and steer encounters towards best practices in order to provide safe and effective care.

Following this presentation, viewers will be able to:

1. Describe the current status of the opioid crisis in the United States.
2. Outline evidence-based recommendations for prescribing opioids and other treatments for pain.
3. Discuss the basic principles of motivational interviewing in the patient encounter.
4. Apply motivational interviewing principles to dental practice.
5. Understand situations that may arise in patient encounters related to pain in dental practice through case examples.

Please note: A Certificate of Completion can be claimed by participants of this archived webinar, available through our partnership with the Providers Clinical Support System – please go to the event page on pcssNOW.org.

Sharon Tsay, M.D.

Dr. Sharon Tsay is a medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She joined CDC in 2016 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer in the Mycotic Diseases Branch. In 2019, she joined the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention working on the Opioid Overdose Health Systems Team. In this role, she works on implementing and evaluating efforts around safe opioid prescribing in health care systems, as well as linkage to treatment for opioid use disorder.

Brett Kessler, D.D.S.

Dr. Brett Kessler has been practicing esthetic, functional and reconstructive dentistry since 1995. Dr. Kessler is a past president of the Colorado Dental Association. He also serves as the chairman of the Well Being Committee for the State of Colorado and is member of the American Dental Association Dental Well-Being Advisory Committee. Brett currently serves as Vice-Chair on ADA’s Council on Dental Benefit Plans. Brett was selected by the 14th ADA District as its representative to the ADA’s Board of Trustee which he will initiate in September, 2019.