Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Atypical Odontalgia

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Pain

  • 23 Accesses

Definition

Atypical odontalgia may be defined as pain of dental origin without a definitive organic cause (Woda and Pionchon 1999).

Characteristics

Pain is localized to a tooth, or sometimes more than one tooth, which shows no dental pathology. Pain may be spontaneous or evoked by hot or cold foods, is usually strong and may throb (Czerninsky et al. 1999).

Etiology

Marbach (1978) postulated that pain is the result of previous trauma, such as tooth extraction or tooth pulp extirpation, which interferes with the central nervous system pain modulatory mechanisms and coined the name “phantom tooth pain”. This idea is supported by the observation that experimental tooth extraction produces brainstem lesions in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis, and that more extensive tooth pulp injury is associated with heightened excitability changes of trigeminal brainstem neurons (Hu et al. 1990). Although far from proven, a deafferentationassociated with peripheral nerve injury may be responsible for...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 1,250.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Benoliel R, Elishoov H, Sharav Y (1997) Orofacial Pain with Vascular-Type Features. Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology and Endodontics 84:506–512

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hu JW, Sharav Y, Sessle BJ (1990) Effect of One- or Two-Stage Deafferentation of Mandibular and Maxillary Tooth Pulps on the Functional Properties of Trigeminal Brainstem Neurons. Brain Research 516:271–279

    Google Scholar 

  3. Marbach JJ (1978) Phantom tooth pain. Journal of Endodontics 4:362–372

    Google Scholar 

  4. Sharav Y (1999) Orofacial pain. In: Wall PD, Melzack R (eds) Textbook of Pain, 4th edn. Churchill Livingstone, pp 711–738

    Google Scholar 

  5. Woda A, Pionchon PA (1999) Unified Concept of Idiopathic Orofacial Pain: Clinical Features. J Orofac Pain 13:172–184

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah, Jerusalem, Israel

    Yair Sharav

Authors
  1. Yair Sharav
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physiological Institute, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Robert F. Schmidt

  2. Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA

    William D. Willis

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Sharav, Y. (2007). Atypical Odontalgia. In: Schmidt, R., Willis, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_322

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_322

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43957-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29805-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation