The accurate assessment and diagnosis of symptoms of pain and discomfort course for Dental Practioners

This session considers the different categories of pain and discomfort that dental patients may experience, and how they can be correctly assessed and diagnosed.

Learning objectives

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• dtate the causes of the different categories of pain that dental patients experience
• explain how the clinical history of pain is determined
• list the key factors considered in clinical investigation of pain

Historically, dental pain has long been recognised as a frequent human condition. In the poem 'Address to the toothache' by Robert Burns, the poet describes vividly the severity and nature of toothache, including referral of pain to his ear. Later in the poem, Burns refers to toothache as 'the hell of all diseases'.