Abstract

Orofacial Pain and Dysfunction in Preadolescent Patients: Clinical Approach from Another Perspective

by Serritella Emanuela

Orofacial pain and cranio-cervical-mandibular dysfunctions in growing patients often represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. This is related to the peculiarities of this particular time in a person's life, which implies greater difficulty in the acquisition of clinical data and therapeutic compliance, but also to the connection between these disorders with numerous social, psychological and behavioral factors. Non-conventional medicines, and especially traditional medicines, can be a valid integration for the diagnosis and treatment of all types of orofacial pain. The purpose of this report is to describe the main traditional and unconventional medical systems that can be included into clinical practice and their indications, and to analyze their validity from an evidence-based perspective. With a special focus on traditional Chinese and Korean medicine, basic diagnostic and therapeutic tools will also be provided for application to the pediatric and preadolescent patient with TMJ dysfunction and pain.

Learning Objectives

After this lecture, you will be able to recognize useful and scientifically validated unconventional medicines for the treatment of orofacial pain
After this lecture, you will be able to evaluate other perspectives on clinical approaches to the growing dysfunctional patient
After this lecture, you will be able to learn some diagnostic and therapeutic tools from traditional Chinese and Korean medicine