Liaison psychiatry and psychology in dentistry

Dentists are trained to provide treatment for patients with straightforward problems that respond to routine therapy and do not recur. However, patients may present to dentists and complain solely of physical symptoms such as toothache, headache, and facial pain: only after much inappropriate treatment these symptoms are revealed to be due to emotional disturbance. The dentist may spend hours investigating such patients, in some of whom dental pathology may be present, but the symptoms and ensuing disability cannot be satisfactorily explained as a result. There are other patients who are preoccupied by physical symptoms or by their appearance. In others, anxiety may manifest itself as a phobia, or a dysmorphic concern about certain aspects of their appearance. This article reviews the role of liaison psychiatry and psychology in dentistry.