Systematic review and recommendations for nonodontogenic toothache

Abstract

Nonodontogenic toothache is a painful condition that occurs in the absence of a clinically evident cause in the teeth or periodontal tissues. The purpose of this review is to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and the quality of dental treatment regarding nonodontogenic toothache. Electronic databases were searched to gather scientific evidence regarding related primary disorders and the management of nonodontogenic toothache. We evaluated the level of available evidence in scientific literature. There are a number of possible causes of nonodontogenic toothache and they should be treated. Nonodontogenic toothache can be categorised into eight groups according to primary disorders as follows: 1) myofascial pain referred to tooth/teeth, 2) neuropathic toothache, 3) idiopathic toothache, 4) neurovascular toothache, 5) sinus pain referred to tooth/teeth, 6) cardiac pain referred to tooth/teeth, 7) psychogenic toothache or toothache of psychosocial origin and 8) toothache caused by various other disorders. We concluded that unnecessary dental treatment should be avoided.

Involvement of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 channel expression in orofacial cutaneous hypersensitivity following tooth pulp inflammation

“…It is well established that ectopic orofacial pain and nonodontogenic toothache often occur in association with tooth pulp inflammation (1,2). As such pain symptoms may lead to misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment of patients with toothache (3,4), it is important to clarify the mechanisms responsible for this type of ectopic orofacial pain and non-odontogenic toothache.…”

Non-Odontogenic Toothache Caused by the Fungal Ball of Maxillary Sinus: Case Reports

“…The exact mechanism of toothache caused by sinusitis was not fully understood, in so far. Toothache frequently occurs in the maxillary premolar and molar regions in acute sinusitis, whereas chronic sinusitis usually does not accompany toothache [16,17]. In contrary to general belief, chronic sinusitis seldom induces facial pain or headache.…”

Differential diagnosis of toothache to prevent erroneous and unnecessary dental treatment

“…The teeth appear sensitive to temperature without any identifiable dental pathology. This kind of toothache may be more probable in case of association with hallucinations or delusions . For the dentist or oro‐facial pain specialist, it is important not to engage in (extra) dental treatment but to refer to the neuropsychiatrist.…”

“…Afterwards, the clinical features of the most common causes for non‐odontogenic toothache will be reviewed. More detailed and extensive descriptions of these conditions can be found in excellent textbooks and papers that recently have been published …”