The field of Orofacial Pain is concerned with the prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of orofacial pain disorders. Such disorders may have pain and associated symptoms arising from a discrete cause, such as postoperative pain or pain associated with a malignancy, or may be syndromes in which pain constitutes the primary problem, such as TMJ disorder pain, neuropathic pains or headaches.The diagnosis of painful syndromes may rely on interpretation of historical data; review of laboratory studies, imaging, behavioral, social, and occupational assessment; interview and examination by the orofacial pain provider. The orofacial pain provider serves as a consultant to other dentists and physicians but is often the principal treating health care provider and may provide care at various levels, such as direct treatment, prescribing medication, prescribing rehabilitative services, performing pain relieving procedures, counseling of patients and families, providing direction of a multidisciplinary team, providing coordination of care with other healthcare providers and providing consultative services to public and private agencies pursuant to optimal healthcare delivery to the patient suffering from a painful disorder.Orofacial pain is evolving; the scope of the field is enlarging.
At the present time the orofacial pain encompasses:
- Temporomandibular Joint disorders (TMD)
- Neurovascular pain/ Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN)
- Neuropathic pain
- Atypical odontalgia (phantom tooth pain)
- Sleep disorders related to orofacialpain
- Cervical musculoskeletal pain
- Orofacial Dystonias
- Headaches
- Intraoral, intracranial, extracranial, and systemic disorders that cause orofacial pain