The mechanisms of neuropathic pain have been explored by multiple approaches including electrophysiology, immunohistochemistry, neuroimaging, and molecular biology. Recent studies have demonstrated a part of mechanisms that contribute to the development of a new treatment for neuropathic pain. In this review, we first overview the basic anatomical and physiological evidence of orofacial pain mechanisms, and second, we introduce our recent pharmacological findings in terms of orofacial neuropathic pain obtained by using optical imaging techniques.
