Craniofacial pain: a multidisciplinary approach

Patients with pain involving the head and orofacial complex are among the most challenging both for dentists and physicians. A collaborative approach to diagnosis and management will yield the best possible result for the patient and minimize aggravation and frustration for the clinician. This collaboration must include ongoing discussion between the various clinicians. Ultimately, the various practitioners will develop a deeper comprehension of each others' fields, and the boundaries of the various disciplines will become less definite and a truly transdisciplinary approach will result. The latter is a highly desirable outcome for clinicians and patients. (The patient presenting with an atypical facial pain has been used as an example of just such a situation and the brief dissertation above should not be interpreted as an in-depth discussion of this complex disorder.