Sinusitis as a source of dental pain.

Sinusitis is a common medical problem that can occasionally manifest as dental pain. If the patient is experiencing dental pain in the maxillary posterior teeth, then it is appropriate for the dentist to rule out sinusitis as a source of the problem before proceeding with definitive dental treatment. Often there is an obvious odontogenic source of the pain, and this should be resolved first, but in other situations it is difficult to determine the cause of the symptoms. In some patients, the source of the pain is so equivocal that it may be necessary to treat the patient for sinusitis to eliminate this as the source of the dental pain (Table 7). In this process, the dentist has one of 2 options: either refer the patient to a physician or treat the sinusitis. The option chosen regarding patient management is made by the dentist and depends on the particular clinical situation and the dentist's training and experience.