[Atypical odontalgia - a little known phantom pain]

Atypical odontalgia (AO) was described in the dental literature more than 200 years ago, and it is included in most taxonomies and textbooks of pain. Nonetheless, it remains one of the most frequently misdiagnosed intraoral pain conditions.

Due to similarities with phantom pain, AO is also referred to as "phantom tooth pain".

AO is characterized by persistent throbbing pain in or around a former or present permanent tooth (preferably molars and premolars). Clinical and radiographic examination, however, does not reveal any organic cause of the pain. The complaints associated with AO usually begin after deafferentiation of primary afferent trigeminal nerve fibers, e. g., after pulp extirpation, apicectomy, or extraction of a tooth.

AO is a diagnosis by exclusion.

Patients and dentists must be aware of the fact that the therapeutic options are limited. AO is primarily managed with topically or systemically administered pharmacological agents. Unnecessary and harmful procedures around teeth and jaws must be avoided by all means.

A concept was recently proposed which aims to unify a group of four types of orofacial pain under the term "idiopathic orofacial pain" (Woda & Pionchon 1999, 2000). These pain conditions - AO, atypical facial pain, burning mouth syndrome ("stomatodynia"), and subgroups of temporomandibular disorders ("idiopathic facial arthromyalgia") - are characterized by unknown etiology, but common clinical characteristics. It is to be hoped that the suggested classification will stimulate reflection on these enigmatic orofacial pain disorders.