Encyclopedia of Orofacial Pain

Today orofacial pain is a stumbling block for many specialists dealing with the pathology of the maxillofacial area.

Due to the specifics of their work, dentists are forced to be among the first to face its symptoms in patients who come to them for a dental treatment. Often this pain appears even after objectively successful dental treatment. In order to maintain the reputation of the doctor and the clinic, it is necessary to reveal orofacial pain in time.

The most important thing is to make a differential diagnosis and choose the right treatment plan based on the evidence-based methods that will be described in this course.

You will learn to carry out a differential diagnostics between neurogenic and odontogenic pain, observe a patient correctly, create treatment plans, including drug therapy, and also be able to explain to the patient what is actually the cause of his suffer.

– Classification of pain:

- Nociceptive

- Inflammatory

- Neuropathic

- Dysfunctional.

– The origin of pain

– Classification of orofacial pains

– Differential diagnosis of pain: rules for collecting anamnesis

– Characteristics of somatic and neuropathic pain

– Psychological components of pain

– Planning the treatment of orofacial pain.

Recommended for: Functional dentists.

– How listening to descriptors, observing patients and analysing verbal and non-verbal responses to questioning can assist in the diagnosis of orofacial pain

– How an alternative method of assessment involving screening and condition specific questioning, and using a diagnostic tree, can be useful in diagnosis

– How analysing associations with pain can help diagnosis

– How to better to distinguish the difference between odontogenic and non-odontogenic pain

– The concept of Practice - led Research.

– Physiology of the nociceptive system of the trigeminal nerve and the main mechanisms of pain

– International Classification of Orofacial Pain (ICOP)

– Risk factors for orofacial pain

– Management of patients with complex types of orofacial pain.

– Occurrence of toothache and orofacial pain as a result of cracks in molar teeth

– Diagnosis and assessment of cracks in molar teeth

– Conservative strategies for the treatment of symptomatic and asymptomatic tooth cracks

– Preventive strategies for cracks in molar teeth.

– Differences between nociceptive and neuropathic pain

– Characteristics of neuropathic pain

– Differentiated diagnosis of neuropathic pain

– Treatment strategies used for patients with neuropathic pain.

– Understanding the implications of bruxism definitions and constructs

– Reviewing risk factors and pathophysiology of bruxism

– Assessing bruxism in the clinic and in the lab

– Managing bruxism versus orofacial pain

– Identifying potential pitfalls.

– The mean of neuropathic pain

– Differences between neuropathic and nociceptive pain

– Terminology used to describe neuropathic orofacial pain according to the ICOP classification system

– Differential diagnosis of neuropathic or facial pain according to the ICOP classification

– Rational indications for pharmacotherapeutic actions in various manifestations of neuropathic or facial pain.

– How to identify manually a general emotional tension in the maxillofacial area;

– Why does stress in principle affect muscle tension?

– Influence of civilization on the rebirth of emotions and their consequences;

– Why emotional stress is more often manifested by orofacial pain;

– How to differentiate the emotional manifestations of pain in the maxillofacial region;

– Treatment recommendations;

– Clinical observations.

– Signs and symptoms associated with burning mouth syndrome

– Mechanisms and theories associated with the etiopathogenesis of burning sensation in the oral cavity

– Evidence-based treatment strategies for burning mouth.

– Terminology and diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders

– Theories of the etiologic mechanisms for these disorders

– Essential components of the examination process and how to perform them

– How to differentiate between muscle and joint related presentations

– Appreciation for evidence based therapeutic modalities for TMDs.