Pain is common to all people. In fact, the sensing of painful stimuli is an essential protective function of our nervous system. However, it is also the reason for approximately one-half of all patient visits to physicians.
Chronic pain comprises a major proportion of this clinically significant pain problem. At any given time, approximately 15% of women and 8% of men suffer from chronic facial pain of varying intensities. Therefore, 30-40 million Americans must deal with a problem on any given day! Many of them consider their pain to be “severe in nature.”
Two specific examples of diagnosis of intense lifestyle-altering pain are Trigeminal Neuralgia and Atypical Facial Neuralgia. Various etiologic theories have been proposed and subsequent surgical procedures developed in an attempt to relieve severe facial pain. In spite of such evasive efforts, the cure rates are very low, and “suicide is a well-known outcome of treatment failure,” especially of Trigeminal Neuralgia.
Thankfully, most patients do not have to deal with the pain of this severity. However, many others still cope with levels of pain that impact their daily activities. All of the preceding examples of pain have been shown to be treatable with extremely successful cure rates if the presence of jawbone cavitations is confirmed and surgically addressed. This is especially true when a dental history reveals the coincidental onset of pain subsequent to the extraction of teeth and/or trauma dental structures.