Orofacial Pain is Underrepresented in Brazilian Dental Education: Findings from a National Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Effective pain management is essential to high-quality dental care, and its inclusion in dental curricula is vital to ensure future professionals are adequately trained. In Brazil, however, little is known about how pain-related content is integrated into undergraduate dental education. This study aimed to¹ identify whether pain curricula are present in Brazilian undergraduate dentistry programs and² analyze the content covered in these curricula, using international recommendations as a benchmark. Methods: We examined all accredited dental education programs (DEPs) in Brazil and analyzed their curricular content based on guidelines from the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) and the American Dental Association (ADA). Results: Among 274 DEPs analyzed, only 50 (18.2%) included a dedicated pain curriculum. Regional distribution varied, with 91 programs (25.1%) in the Northeast, 141 (38.8%) in the Southeast, 43 (11.8%) in the Midwest, 26 (7.2%) in the North, and 62 (17.1%) in the South. Among the 17 programs with curricula fully available, the most frequently covered topics were related to pharmacological management, such as local anesthetics (70.6%), airway anatomy and physiology (64.7%), and drug administration routes, analgesics, and antagonists (52.9%). In contrast, topics such as pain definitions and orofacial pain conditions (23.5%), orofacial malignancies (41.2%), and pain and anxiety control (11.8%) were less frequent. Notably, non-pharmacological approaches and drug abuse prevention were almost entirely absent. Conclusion: Brazilian dental education programs fall short of meeting the IASP and ADA recommendations for pain education, particularly regarding non-pharmacological content and substance misuse. These findings highlight significant curricular gaps that may affect dental students' training and preparedness. Our results can support curriculum planners and academic leaders in identifying regional disparities and thematic omissions, ultimately guiding improvements in pain education within undergraduate dental programs.