[Headache and teeth].

Abstract

Headache, facial pain and toothache are poorly localized and irradiate in distant areas. Thus, toothache often causes facial pain and headache, but, in turn, it can also be mimicked by several forms of these disorders, in particular by a myoarthropathy of the masticatory system, a migraine, a tension-type headache, a neuropatic pain and a trigeminal neuralgia. The atypical odontalgia is a nonodontogenic form of toothache that is difficult to diagnose; therefore, it leads to a number of invasive dental procedures which normally worsen the pain condition. The atypical odontalgia can often be solely diagnosed by means of a diagnostic block. Headache and facial pain can also be caused by a myoarthropathy of the masticatory system. This disorder is often misdiagnosed, because the signs and symptoms are not pathognomonic, and they are frequently present also in healthy individuals. The disorder has a good prognosis, the therapy is generally simple and follows the treatment principles for chronic musculoskeletal disorders. The burning-mouth syndrome is an other poorly understood form of intraoral pain that occurs primarily in postmenopausal females. Several etiologic factors have been described, but treatment based on one or more of these factors is often ineffective. Spontaneous remission occurs in about half of the patients after several years.