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Orofacial pain resulting from ill-fitting dentures
S Meehan1, D J DeNucci, A D Guckes
1National Institute of Dental Research, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Military Medicine
|July 1, 1995
Summary
Facial pain can be challenging to diagnose. This case highlights how poorly fitting dentures caused myofascial pain, which resolved after dental correction, emphasizing the need for dental evaluations in facial pain cases.
Area of Science:
- Dentistry
- Pain Management
- Oral Medicine
Background:
- Facial pain presents diagnostic challenges due to elusive etiologies and multifactorial causes.
- Differential diagnoses include neuropathy, myofascial pain, dentoalveolar pathoses, and psychological disturbances.
Observation:
- A patient experienced chronic left auricular pain for over 12 years with limited success from drug therapy.
- A head and neck evaluation suggested myofascial pain, potentially linked to poorly occluding complete dentures.
Findings:
- Fabrication of new dentures and adjusted denture-wearing habits led to near-complete remission of the patient's facial pain.
- This suggests an oral-musculoskeletal or dental origin for the previously intractable pain.
Implications:
- Highlights the critical role of dental consultations in diagnosing and managing complex facial pain cases.
- Underscores the importance of considering oral-musculoskeletal factors in the differential diagnosis of persistent facial pain.
- Suggests that dental prosthetics and habits can significantly impact facial pain.