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The Neurobiology of Orofacial Pain

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Orofacial Pain

Abstract

Orofacial pain is a significant and costly health issue that leads to severe psychological, emotional, social, and economic stresses, estimated to have a financial burden of $6 billion annually in the USA alone. Because the orofacial area holds such special significance in daily actions such as eating, drinking, speech, and sexual behavior, pain in that region is especially debilitating. There have been numerous recent advances in the understanding of the neurobiology of orofacial pain. This chapter details the unique neurologic pathway of orofacial pain from the primary afferent nociceptors that generate the pain to the central relay within the brainstem and cerebral cortex that receives it as well as the important biochemical influences by which the pain is modulated. Finally, the neurobiology and key aspects of two of the most common and perplexing orofacial syndromes, neuropathic orofacial pain and pain due to temporomandibular dysfunction, are elucidated. While temporomandibular dysfunction is associated with a complex multifactorial etiology, neuropathic orofacial pain can be further differentiated into trigeminal neuropathic pain, atypical facial pain, and chronic facial pain; each has its own unique pathophysiology. A thorough understanding of all of these aspects of the neurobiology of orofacial pain is essential to the clinical diagnosis and treatment of this costly and debilitating condition.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Nirmal Kumar Vadivelu Amarender and Gopal Kodumudi and Vijay Kodumudi for their help in the preparation of this manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

None declared.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Hospital, 333 Cedar Street, 208051, New Haven, CT, 06520-8051, USA

    Nalini Vadivelu M.D.

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, 208051, New Haven, CT, 06520-8051, USA

    Yili Huang D.O., Peter Mancini M.D., Shaun Gruenbaum M.D. & Susan Dabu-Bondoc M.D.

  3. Annoor Dental College and Hospital, Muvattupuzha, Kerala, 686673, India

    Amarender Vadivelu B.D.S., M.D.S.

  4. Haven Hospital, 333 Cedar Street, 208051, New Haven, CT, 06520-8051, USA

    Susan Dabu-Bondoc M.D.

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  1. Nalini Vadivelu M.D.
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  2. Yili Huang D.O.
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  3. Peter Mancini M.D.
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  4. Shaun Gruenbaum M.D.
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  5. Amarender Vadivelu B.D.S., M.D.S.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nalini Vadivelu M.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Nalini Vadivelu

  2. Department of Periodontology, Annoor Dental College, Kerala, India

    Amarender Vadivelu

  3. Departments of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology, LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

    Alan David Kaye

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© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

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Vadivelu, N., Huang, Y., Mancini, P., Gruenbaum, S., Vadivelu, A., Dabu-Bondoc, S. (2014). The Neurobiology of Orofacial Pain. In: Vadivelu, N., Vadivelu, A., Kaye, A. (eds) Orofacial Pain. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01875-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01875-1_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-01874-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-01875-1

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