[Complaints of pain in the orofacial area of non-odontogenic origin].

Complaints of pain in the orofacial area usually are odontogenic in origin or have to do with temporomandibular dysfunction. Dentists can, nevertheless, be confronted with a number of disorders that are non-odontogenic in nature. In such instances it is not always a matter of nociceptive pain, associated with somatic damage, but the pain can also be the result of nerve damage (neuropathic pain) or of changes that may occur within the central nervous system (central sensitisation). In most of these cases, the pain is chronic in nature. By ruling out alarming symptoms ('red flags') and paying attention to factors that may contribute to an over-sensitised nervous system ('yellow flags'), the patient can often be reassured sufficiently and subsequently be referred to a pain specialist for further pain management.