Exploring the inclusion of dental providers on interprofessional healthcare teams treating patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a rapid review

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the world. Emerging concepts like One Health, integrated care models for COPD, and associations between oral and respiratory health are innovative ways to approach COPD treatment. This study explored contemporary evidence on the inclusion of dental providers on interprofessional healthcare teams treating patients with COPD. The first objective was to explore the current state of interprofessional care for COPD, and the second objective was to explore dentistry used in interprofessional care. A rapid review was conducted from January–June 2020 using Scopus and PubMed. Upon assessing for duplication and relevance, 85 articles were included for Objective 1, and 194 for Objective 2. The literature suggests that when dental providers are included on interprofessional healthcare teams, treatment outcomes for patients with multi-morbid, chronic disease such as COPD, are improved. The papers collected for review suggest that educational and clinical programs should implement interprofessional collaboration when treating chronic diseases. Healthcare teams can utilize the expertise of professionals outside the traditional medical field to better understand patients’ needs. Healthcare administration should consider a One Health approach when developing COPD treatment guidelines. We believe our results are transferable to the Canadian healthcare system. The collaborative nature and holistic philosophy of a One Health approach provides a novel way to develop policies and procedures that can effectively address the burden of COPD.