Phantom tooth pain: The atypical facial pain

Abstract

Chronic pain is more prevalent in the head and neck region than other parts of the body. Almost one-third of patients attending a facial pain clinic have history of undergoing some dental procedures often without success. Literature review reveals that atypical odontalgia, atypical facial pain or if teeth have been extracted phantom tooth pain are used to describe a common pain syndrome. At present, chronic pain disorders are diagnosed mainly on the basis of clinical signs and symptoms, since the mechanism underlying the pathophysiology is not well understood. Many diagnostic criteria for atypical facial pain has been proposed without much benefit however, it remains a diagnosis of exclusion after ruling out all other pathologies of the head and neck. Clinically, phantom tooth pain is similar in many essential characteristics to deafferentation pain syndrome. In the absence of controlled clinical trials specifically directed to phantom tooth pain, treatment should be guided by standards used for other neuropathic pain disorders.