Invasive dental treatment, pain reports, and disease conviction in chronic facial pain patients. A retrospective study.

Patients with chronic orofacial pain often undergo endodontic therapy or surgery in an attempt to eliminate or relieve their symptoms. This study examined the relationship among invasive dental treatment, pain reports, and disease conviction in a group of patients referred for pain management. Forty-eight patients referred to the Facial Pain Diagnostic Group at the Karolinska Institute, School of Dentistry, Stockholm, were investigated retrospectively. There were 43 women and 5 men (age range, 30-81 years) with orofacial pain of more than 6 months' duration, which the patients considered to be of dental or paradental origin. Despite dental treatment intended to relieve the pain, no permanent relief had been achieved. There was no statistical correlation among the different pain reports, the individual types of treatment, and the disease conviction. The reason for the high degree of disease conviction in this type of patient warrants further investigation.