Patient: A 74-year-old female was referred to our department with symptoms of unpleasant dull aching on bilateral cheek, teeth and gum. The patient had been suffering from cheek and teeth pain from several months after two-years-treatment for 14 teeth at the dental clinic A. However, her pain had not been properly treated at this clinic A. One year later, although endodontic therapy was performed at the dental clinic B, her symptoms did not improve. Then the patient was referred to several hospitals, and these hospitals repeated endodontic therapy and extraction for neighboring teeth felt pain. Accordingly, 10 teeth were extracted for approximately two years before her visiting our clinical department. At the first visiting our hospital referred pain at #12 from a trigger point on the left masseter, and allodynia at gingiva corresponding to #12, #13, #14, #15, #18, #19, and #20 were observed. Thus, our clinical diagnosis is as follow: non-odontogenic tooth pain at #14, neuropathic pain at maxillary and mandibular gingiva where teeth were extracted and temporomandibular disorder with masticatory muscle myalgia. Therefore, based on a cognitive behavior model, the evaluation and intervention for her pain problem were performed by physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects. As a result, two months after the intervention, the allodynia of gingiva were alleviated to dysesthesia.
Discussion: Besides physical treatments for pain, it has been reported that multi-dimensional countermeasures based on cognitive behavioral models such as attention to emotion, modification of non-functional cognition, and intervention to pain behavior and/or pain avoidance behavior is effective. In this case, providing not only physical care but also psychological interventions were beneficial for the patient with chronic non-odontogenic toothache.
Conclusion: We experienced the patient with non-odontogenic tooth ache who had lost 10 teeth during the past two years and psychological interventions were beneficial.
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