Current concepts of pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of patients with odontogenic facial pain

This literature review presents data on odontogenic causes of chronic facial pain. Different mechanisms of pain syndrome onset are considered, as well as various dentoalveolar pathologies. It is revealed that modern researchers emphasize various pain mechanisms, including nociceptive, neurotic, and nociplastic. Determining the type of pain is critical for effective analgesia. In the presence of chronic pain syndrome, only multicomponent analgesia-nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, and psychotherapy-can be effective. Also the struggle with pain sensations should include the impact on the etiologic component — abnormalities of the dento-mandibular system, dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint on the basis of dental occlusion disorders. Such etiopathogenetic approach can potentially increase the efficiency of prosopalgia control, but for its differential diagnostics it is necessary to use modern methods of visualization. It is worth noting that prosopalgia is a multidisciplinary problem that should be addressed by different specialists, but most likely a neurologist should be at the head of this team.