Chronicity of orofacial pain

Acute and chronic orofacial pain continues to be poorly understood and managed. The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) 1999 report on acute pain management promotes the development of evidence based clinical practice guidelines aimed at improving both the quality of health care and health outcomes in medical and dental practice in Australia. Nerve signals arising from sites of tissue or nerve injury lead to long term changes in the central nervous system and the amplification and persistence of pain. These nociceptor activity-induced neuronal changes known as central sensitization, have important clinical implications in the development of new approaches to the management of persistent pain. These findings and implications are discussed in relationship to poorly managed and understood conditions such as oral dysaesthesia, burning mouth syndrome, atypical facial pain/atypical odontalgia, peripheral nerve injury, deafferentation and phantom tooth syndrome.