Dental clinics of North America
-
Dent. Clin. North Am. · Jan 2007
ReviewNeuropathic orofacial pain: proposed mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment considerations.
The most common reason patients seek medical or dental care in the United States is due to pain or dysfunction. The orofacial region is plagued by a number of acute, chronic, and recurrent painful maladies. Pain involving the teeth and the periodontium is the most common presenting concern in dental practice. ⋯ Therefore, it is mandatory for the dental professional to develop the necessary clinical and scientific expertise on which he/she may base diagnostic and management approaches. Optimum management can be achieved only by determining an accurate and complete diagnosis and identifying all of the factors associated with the underlying pathosis on a case-specific basis. A thorough understanding of the epidemiologic and etiologic aspects of dental. musculoskeletal, neurovascular, and neuropathic orofacial pain conditions is essential to the practice of evidence-based dentistry/medicine.
-
Dent. Clin. North Am. · Jan 2007
ReviewMyogenous temporomandibular disorders: diagnostic and management considerations.
Myogenous temporomandibular disorders (or masticatory myalgia) are characterized by pain and dysfunction that arise from pathologic and functional processes in the masticatory muscles. There are several distinct muscle disorder subtypes in the masticatory system, including myofascial pain, myositis, muscle spasm, and muscle contracture. ⋯ Comorbid conditions and complicating factors also are common and are discussed. Management follows with stretching, posture, and relaxation exercises, physical therapy, reduction of contributing factors, and as necessary, muscle injections.
-
Many orofacial pain conditions occur in the elderly. Specifically,this article reviews the prevalence of general and orofacial-related pain in the elderly. ⋯ They do not cover jaw joint pain, oral sores, or ulceration-induced pain, as these conditions are better discussed in the context of arthritis and oral pathologies of the mouth. The authors discuss oral motor disorders, myogenous pain, vascular pain, headaches, trigeminal neuralgia, trigeminal neuropathic dis-ease, postherpetic neuralgia, burning mouth syndrome, and occlusal dysesthesia.
-
Soft tissue oral and perioral lesions in the pediatric population are numerous and occur in various clinical presentations. Some conditions observed in children share characteristics with adult-onset disease. ⋯ This article focuses on the more common soft tissue manifestations in children. Rather than a comprehensive review of pediatric oral pathology, the article offers an overview of selected clinical conditions often encountered in young patients.
-
Through billions of years of evolution, microbes have developed myriad defense mechanisms designed to ensure their survival. This protection is readily transferred to their fellow life forms via transposable elements. ⋯ When antibiotics are used, six events may occur with only one being beneficial: when the antibiotic aids the host defenses to gain control and eliminate the infection. Alternatively, the antibiotic may cause toxicity or allergy, initiate a superinfection with resistant bacteria, promote microbial chromosomal mutations to resistance, encourage resistance gene transfer to susceptible species, or promote the expression of dormant resistance genes.