Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache, 03/1999

The main features of atypical facial pain, stomatodynia, atypical odontalgia, and masticatory muscle and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders are compared in this article, which included a search of articles indexed in MEDLINE. The fact that their terminology has been the subject of many debates can be considered a consequence of taxonomic difficulties and uncertainties. Epidemiologic studies indicate marked female predominance for all types of idiopathic orofacial pain. There is also a difference in the age of maximal prevalence between masticatory muscle and TMJ disorders and the other entities. The clinical presentations display several symptoms in common. Pain is oral, perioral, or facial and does not follow a nervous pathway. It has been present for the last 4 to 6 months or has returned periodically in the same form over a period of several months or years. The pain is continuous, has no major paroxysmal character, and is present throughout all or part of the day. It is generally absent during sleep. Clinical, radiographic, or laboratory examination does not reveal any obvious organic cause of pain. There is also a frequent presence of certain psychologic factors, personality traits, or life events. Based on these shared characteristics, a unified concept is proposed. Each of these entities belongs to a group of idiopathic orofacial pain and could be expressed in either the jaws, the buccal mucosa, the teeth, the masticatory muscles, or the TMJ.

A case of episodic, spontaneous odontalgia, aggravated by ingestion of cold food, with no apparent dental pathology is presented. Attempts at alleviating the pain by means of root canal treatment had failed in previous, similar episodes, and pain and pulpal hyperalgesia had shifted to other locations. Primary vascular orofacial pain was diagnosed and effective control obtained by prophylactic treatment with propranolol, a beta-adrenergic blocker. A prophylactic attempt with nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker, failed to alleviate the pain. This diagnostic entity and possible therapeutic approaches are discussed.

Pain referred to the orofacial structures can sometimes be a diagnostic challenge for the clinician. In some instances, a patient may complain of tooth pain that is completely unrelated to any dental source. This poses a diagnostic and therapeutic problem for the dentist. Cardiac pain most commonly radiates to the left arm, shoulder, neck, and face. In rare instances, angina pectoris may present as dental pain. When this occurs, an improper diagnosis frequently leads to unnecessary dental treatment or, more significantly, a delay of proper treatment. This delay may result in the patient experiencing an acute myocardial infarction. It is the dentist's responsibility to establish a proper diagnosis so that the treatment will be directed toward the soruce of pain and not to the site of pain. This article reviews the literature concerning referred pain or cardiac origin and rpesents a case report of toothache of cardiac origin.