Trigeminal neuralgia: unilateral episodic facial pain

Knowledge About Chronic Orofacial Pain Among General Dentists of Kermanshah, Iran

Background and Objective:

Diagnosis and treatment of chronic orofacial pain are one of the most challenging issues in dentistry. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge of general dentists regarding orofacial pain in Kermanshah, Iran.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 including general dentists of Kermanshah city. A researcher-designed questionnaire was administered to collect demographic data as well as measuring knowledge of the dentists in four sections including etiology, clinical presentations, physical examination, and treatment of chronic orofacial pain. The questionnaire had acceptable validity (content validity > 0.9) and reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient= 0.857 for test re-test; Cronbach’s alpha= 0.72 for internal consistency). The data were analyzed by the SPSS software (ver. 18.0) using Spearman’s correlation coefficient (P < 0.05).

Results:

There were 121 male (72.9%) and 45 female (27.1%) dentists with mean (SD) age of 40.55 (8.03) years and mean (SD) practice history of 13.28 (8.43) years. Mean (SD) knowledge score was 10.54 (2.36) (maximum possible score= 15). 48.2% of dentists had good knowledge in overall. 48.2% about etiology, 45.2% about clinical presentations, 36.1% about physical examination, and 7.8% about treatment had good knowledge. Knowledge had direct and significant relationship with age (r = 0.179; P = 0.022) and practice history (r = 0.18; P = 0.021).

Conclusion:

The results showed that the studied dentists did not have enough knowledge about chronic orofacial pain especially in the treatment field. Therefore, it is recommended to implement educational programs to improve their knowledge.

Intraoral administration of botulinum toxin for trigeminal neuropathic pain

This article presents 2 cases of different neuropathic trigeminal pain conditions treated with intraoral botulinum toxin injections. There is a growing body of evidence to support the use of this substance when administered subcutaneously in the treatment of neuropathic pain, such as in extraoral injections for trigeminal neuralgia. However, reports of intraoral submucosal administration are still lacking. In the 2 cases presented here, neuropathic pain was refractory to treatment with an important intraoral peripheral component, so onabotulinum toxin A was introduced as an adjuvant therapy. The technique, doses, and dilution are discussed. The patients reported significant reductions in pain frequency and intensity, with minimal side effects of temporary mucosal dryness and smile droopiness. The analgesic benefits of botulinum toxin may be utilized to address intraoral neuropathic pain. Further studies are needed to confirm safety and effectiveness in larger samples.