• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.72-73
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• 2022

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.289-294
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• 2022

Background: Orofacial pain is defined as pain felt in the soft or hard tissues of the head, face, mouth, and neck. Chronic orofacial pain is often challenging to diagnose and difficult to treat. Due to the lack of available information about the prevalence and clinical form of orofacial pain, this study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of chronic orofacial pain in patients presenting at the Department of Oral Medicine of Shahid Beheshti Dental School between 2012 and 2022. Methods: In this retrospective study, we evaluated the files of 121 patients at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases of Shahid Beheshti Dental School, which were completed during 2012-2022. We extracted the required information from these files. Results: In total, 121 files were included in the study (30 male, 91 female). The mean age of the patients was 43.68 ± 16.79 years. The most common diagnosis in patients with chronic orofacial pain was temporomandibular disorders (TMD) (55.3%). Among pain-related factors, psychological factors showed the highest frequency (30.5%). Opening and closing (43.8%) had the highest frequency among factors that increased pain, and the rest (6.6%) had the highest frequency among the factors that reduced pain. Most patients experienced unilateral pain over the masseter area. Most patients reported their pain intensity to be greater than 7 in the verbal analog scale (VAS). The most common symptom associated with pain was joint noise (37.1%). Conclusion: A ten-year retrospective evaluation of patient files showed that more than half of the patients with chronic orofacial pain had TMD.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.26-28
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• 2014

Nasopharyngeal cancer is malignant tumor of nasopharyngeal area that is characterized of lymphadenopathy, pain, otitis media, hearing loss and cranial nerve palsy and may present symptoms similar to temporomandibular disorder such as facial pain and trismus. In this case, the patient with symptoms similar to temporomandibular disorder after surgery for otitis media presented with facial paresthesia and masticatory muscle weakness. Examinaion of trigemimal nerve was shown sensory and motor abnormaility. The patient was referred to a neurologist. Nasopharyngeal cancer was suspected on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and was confirmed by biopsy. If the patient presenting with paresthesia and muscle weakness the cranial nerve examination should be performed regardless of typical temporomandibular disorder symptom. The neurologic symptom can be caused by neoplasm such as brain tumor and nasopharyngeal cancer. Nasopharyngeal cancer on rosenmuller fossa can develop otitis media. Therefore, the patient with otitis media history should be consulted to otorhinolaryngologist to examin the nasopharyngeal area.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.137-143
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• 2023

Purpose: To assess Google Trends (GT) search behavior regarding orofacial pain (OFP) and headaches. Methods: GT scores for OFP and headache specialists between February 2013 and December 2022 were analyzed. Statistical tests such as Poisson regression analyses, mean differences, and Cohen's D were used to assess the score change over time. Results: The top three search words for OFP specialists were "temporomandibular joint (TMJ) specialist," "TMJ doctor," and "TMJ dentist," whereas the top three search words for headache specialists were "Headache specialist," "Headache doctor," and "Migraine specialist." Here, TMJ is temporomandibular joint. The GT scores for OFP specialists increased significantly (p<0.05) for all years except 2017, with the highest mean difference in 2020. The scores for headache specialists showed similar trends but gradually. Conclusions: The interest in OFP and headache specialists expressed by Google searches has increased over the years. More awareness is needed regarding the OFP scope of practice, and the use of GT may serve as an indicator.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.48-48
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• 2020

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.25-27
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• 2017

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease which affects whole gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus. Crohn's disease may present both oral manifestation and gastrointestinal symptom-abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, anorexia, fever, and growth failure. The prevalence rate of oral manifestation is approximately between 0.5% and 20%. The oral lesion could be the first sign of Crohn's disease. We present a case of Crohn's disease in a patient who did not show typical oral manifestations but had nonspecific aphthous like ulceration and burning sensation for many years. Through this case, we suggest approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of the oral lesion of Crohn's disease.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.147-151
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• 2018

Disuse atrophy involves gradual muscle weakening due to inadequate usage and can cause temporomandibular disorder (TMD). A 45-year old man with TMD symptoms on the left side, who had disuse atrophy of the masticatory muscles on the right side following surgical removal of a trigeminal schwannoma on the right side, first visited the Department of Orofacial Pain and Oral Medicine at Kyung Hee University Dental Hospital with left jaw pain and difficulty in opening mouth and chewing. He had been experiencing difficulties in cognitive function, decrease in visual acuity, impaired speech, and writing deficits after brain surgery. Furthermore, he complained of abnormal occlusion on the right side, which interfered with his ability to chew comfortably and open his mouth effectively. Herein, we describe a contralateral TMD case due to ipsilateral disuse atrophy after brain surgery for a trigeminal schwannoma and our successful treatment with medication, physical therapy, and stabilization splint.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.169-182
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• 2012

This study was designed to evaluate the pain control effect by morphine injection to masticatory muscle pain patients. Patients with masticatory muscle pain visited the Department of Oral Medicine, Kyung Hee University Dental Hospital were recruited to this study and diagnosed by RDC/TMD. Experimental group were divided into three group; saline injection group(n=10), lidocaine injection group(n=10) and morphine injection group(n=10). Evaluation list was the subjective pain evaluation(visual analogue scale, Mc Gill pain questionnaire, pain drawing) and the objective pain evaluation(pressure pain threshold, pressure pain tolerance) and evaluation time was injection before, after 10min, 30min, 60min and then it was analyzed statistically. The results were as follows : 1. The subjective pain evaluation and the objective pain evaluation were significantly different statistically in within subject effects(p<0.001). 2. The subjective pain drawing evaluation(p<0.001) were significantly different statistically in between subject effects. 3. The objective pressure pain threshold evaluation(p=0.025) were significantly different statistically in between subject effects. 4. The morphine injection group(p=0.001) were more significantly different than the saline injection group statistically in the subject pain drawing evaluation. Therefore, it was considered that the morphine injection was effective to pain control for masticatory muscle pain patients within 60 minute.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.189-194
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• 2019

Perforation of articular disc of temporomandibular joint is a unusual condition and diagnosed through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), arthrography or arthroscopic surgery. We attempted to investigate the suspicious findings of articular disc perforation through examination commonly used in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and imaging findings of five TMD patients whose articular discs were perforated based on MRI. The most meaningful finding was the abnormal width of the joint space in cone-beam computed tomography. Thus, the clinician should perform a thorough assessment of the joint space in TMD patients and conduct additional investigation to determine what caused the abnormal joint space.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.179-182
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• 2019

Sjögren syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by dryness of the mouth and eyes due to lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine glands. In American European Consensus Group (AECG) criteria, abnormal salivary gland scintigraphy (SGS) result is one of the objective signs of SS and it has been proposed as a valid and non-invasive alternative approach to functional evaluation of salivary gland, especially in the case when unstimulated whole salivary flow is more than 1.5 mL in 15 minutes or other AECG criteria is unmet. Patients with SS are more likely to have the thyroid disease (TD), but this association remains controversial. We present a case of the use of SGS for diagnosis of primary SS and TD in patients with dry mouth and burning sensation of tongue. Through this case, we suggest the usefulness of salivary scintigraphy for screening TD in addition to diagnosis of SS.