Alan S. Law, DDS, PhD

Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 1995 Jul;80(1):96-100.

Trigeminal neuralgia mimicking odontogenic pain. A report of two cases.

Law AS, Lilly JP.

Department of Endodontics, University of Iowa College of Dentistry, Iowa City, USA.

Trigeminal neuralgia or tic douloureux is characterized by paroxysmal episodes of facial pain in the distribution of the trigeminal nerve, although patients may have a variety of symptoms that mimic odontogenic pain. This article presents two cases of trigeminal neuralgia that were misdiagnosed and initially treated endodontically as pain of odontogenic origin. A therapeutic regimen of carbamazepine alleviated the pain in both patients. These two cases demonstrate the importance of having a thorough knowledge of both odontogenic and nonodontogenic causes of orofacial pain, as well as the need for careful diagnosis before undertaking any treatment.

PMID: 7552871 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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