Oro-facial Pain

The research work of this topic is founded on an established national leading orofacial pain and trigeminal nerve injury services, with support from liaison psychiatry, psychology, neurosurgery, neurology and pain management. The research ranges from the determination fo the molecular basis for pain through the identification of biomarkers to the development and evaluation of novel therapies.

Current areas of interest include:

• Development of a clinical paradigm for the assessment of patients with trigeminal pain including QST, psychometrics, functionality, pain profiling and genetics
• The identification of trigeminal pain clinical trial biomarkers for post surgical pain related to third molar surgery
• The identification of gene transcripts related to acute post surgical pain
• Investigation of toothache pain pathways Immunohistochemical methods for the evaluation of peripheral pain receptors and transmitters in trigeminal pain
• Development of imaging protocols for chronic trigeminal pain evaluating headaches, burning mouth syndrome and persistent post surgical pain
• Development of cognitive behavioral therapy protocols for patients with persistent trigeminal pain.