Journal of the American Dental Association, Vol 127, Issue 2, 221-229
Copyright © 1996 by American Dental Association
Orofacial phantom pain: theory and phenomenology
JJ Marbach
Department of Oral Pathology, Biology and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey 07103-2714, USA.
Developing a treatment strategy for patients who are in chronic pain can be challenging for any health care professional, particularly when traditional measures to relieve pain are ineffective. Pain treatment can be further complicated by phenomena known as phantom pain--most often associated with limb amputation. The author describes three phantom syndromes experienced in the orofacial region: phantom tooth pain, phantom bite syndrome and intraoral stump pain.