Dilemma in treatment of patients suffering from orofacial dysaesthesia

A retrospective study of 64 patients with orofacial dysaesthesia is presented. Special emphasis is placed on the patients' symptoms and on the manipulative treatments they received before they were referred for psychiatric consultation. The patients had suffered from chronic orofacial pain or feelings of discomfort for periods ranging from 6 months up to 25 years. The patients had visited several specialists and had received numerous manipulative or medical treatments, the most common of which were repeated medication (drug treatment), TMJ dysfunction treatment, endodontic or exodontic treatment, and surgical explorations. However, the success of all these clinical efforts was very limited because of the apparent psychosomatic origin of the complaints. This study clearly shows that psychiatric consultations are still too seldom made in patients with chronic orofacial dysaesthesia, that many patients have a mental disorder, and that most chronic psychosomatic pain disorders are treated as acute specific pain.