Failure of root canal treatment misdiagnosed as neuropathic pain: case report

A patient presented with long-standing symptoms of neuropathic pain in the upper jaw. There were no signs of infection, and the patient had been told by several dentists and physicians that there was no evidence of any pathology. Investigations eventually revealed the source of the problem as failure of root canal treatment. Diagnosis of neuropathic pain (and other orofacial neurogenic disorders) is often a process of exclusion, and this case underscores the need for clinicians to eliminate all possible causes before reaching that conclusion.