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Case Reports
. 2017 Aug 3:11:21.
doi: 10.1186/s13030-017-0106-8. eCollection 2017.

Clinical features of atypical odontalgia; three cases and literature reviews

Miho Takenoshita  1   2 , Anna Miura  1 , Yukiko Shinohara  1 , Rou Mikuzuki  1 , Shiori Sugawara  1 , Trang Thi Huyen Tu  1 , Kaoru Kawasaki  1 , Takeru Kyuragi  2 , Yojiro Umezaki  2 , Akira Toyofuku  1   2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Clinical features of atypical odontalgia; three cases and literature reviews

Miho Takenoshita et al. Biopsychosoc Med. .

Abstract

Background: Atypical odontalgia (AO) is a disease characterized by continuous pain affecting the teeth or tooth sockets after extraction in the absence of any identifiable cause on clinical or radiographic examination. Antidepressants, such as amitriptyline, are reported to be effective in the treatment of AO; however, their efficacy varies depending on the case. In this article, we report three types of AO and discuss its heterogeneity and management.

Case presentation: In the first case, a 58-year-old woman presented with a heavy, splitting pain in the four maxillary front post-crown teeth, as if they were being pressed from the side. Her symptoms abated with 20 mg of amitriptyline. In the second case, a 39-year-old woman presented with a feeling of heaviness pain on the right side of maxillary and mandibular molar teeth, face, whole palate, and throat. She was unable to function because of her pain. Her symptoms drastically subsided with 3 mg of aripiprazole. In the third case, a 54-year-old woman presented with a tingling sensation on the left mandibular second premolar and first molar, and an uncomfortable feeling on her provisional prosthesis that made it unbearable to keep the caps on. Her symptoms diminished with 2 mg of aripiprazole added to 30 mg of mirtazapine.

Conclusions: AO shows various features and responses to drugs. It is considered not only a purely sensory problem, but also a considerably complex psychological problem, such as rumination about the pain. Investigating the difference in pharmacotherapeutic responses might help to advance the treatment of AO.

Keywords: Antidepressants; Aripiprazole; Atypical odontalgia; Augmentation; Persistent dento-alveolar pain disorder.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was conducted with the approval of the Ethics Committee of Tokyo Medical and Dental University (no. 356) and written informed consent was obtained from the patients for participation of this case report.

Consent for publication

Written informed consent was obtained from the patients for publication and any accompanying images.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Case 3: panoramic X ray and intraoral findings
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