Oral Facial Pain Headache

In a randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled design, 20 healthy volunteers had glutamate, lidocaine, and isotonic saline injected into the masseter muscle. Self-assessed pain intensity on a numeric rating scale (NRS) was evaluated up to 10 minutes following the injection, and MPS was evaluated after application (at 5 minutes and 30 minutes) of three different forces (0.5 kg, 1 kg, and 2 kg) to 15 different sites of the masseter muscle. Finally, the entropy and center of gravity (COG) of the pain sensitivity scores were calculated.

To explore whether traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients have a higher prevalence of sleep bruxism (SB) and a higher level of orofacial muscle activity than healthy controls and whether orofacial muscle activity in the context of mild TBI (mTBI) increases the risk for headache disability.

Patients referred to a specialized clinic for complaints of orofacial pain and dysfunction completed a digital questionnaire prior to the first clinical visit. The patient sample was then split into a case group consisting of 268 patients diagnosed with TMD pain according to the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (85.8% women; mean ± standard deviation [SD] age = 40.1 ± 14.5 years) and a control group consisting of 254 patients without any pain in the orofacial area (50.8% women; 46.9 ± 13.6 years). The possible moderating roles of six psychological factors (depression, somatic symptoms, anxiety, stress, optimism, and prior psychological treatment) on the relationship between self reported bruxism and the clinical presence of TMD pain were examined.

  Patients with TMD pain reported significantly more bruxism than patients without any report of orofacial pain. Furthermore, bruxism intensity was associated with a variety of psychological factors; however, there were no significant interactions between any of the psychological factors and bruxism with respect to the clinical presence of TMD pain.

Journal of Craniomandibular Disorders: Facial & Oral Pain, this journal continues to combine the work of dental and medical professionals involved in treating temporomandibular disorders. It discusses prevailing  research, diagnostic techniques, and treatment therapies for orofacial pain,

headache, mandibular dysfunction, and occlusion. Pharmacology,physical therapy, surgery.

The PAG showed increased FC with the prefrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus, and motor cortex but decreased FC with the basal ganglia, dorsal lateral thalamus, internal capsule and prelimbic cortex in the rat model. The atypical FC of the PAG with brain regions in the rat model that are involved in nociception, somatosensory processing, emotional processing, and pain modulation are consistent with the clinical data from migraineurs, indicate that resting-state FC changes in migraine patients may be a consequence of headache attacks, and further validate this rat model of chronic migraine.