Orofacial phantom pain: theory and phenomenology

Developing a treatment strategy for patients who are in chronic pain can be challenging for any health care professional, particularly when traditional measures to relieve pain are ineffective. Pain treatment can be further complicated by phenomena known as phantom pain--most often associated with limb amputation. The author describes three phantom syndromes experienced in the orofacial region: phantom tooth pain, phantom bite syndrome and intraoral stump pain.