The orofacial pain field evolved tremendously in the last 3 decades and at present enfolds many research and clinical interfaces with other medical disciplines assessing painful pathologies.

Although primary care dental clinicians would not be expected to diagnose rare pain conditions, they should be able to assess the presenting pain complaint from their patients, to such an extent that if required, an appropriate referral to secondary or tertiary care can be expedited.

The underlying causes of orofacial pain, both of dental or nondental origin, can be complex, and the management of pain often requires a multidisciplinary approach and background of knowledge. Reading about common symptoms and pain can help in understanding the causes and possible solutions for the problem.

Orofacial pain is a very common symptom. It is estimated that over 95% of cases of orofacial pain result from dental causes (i.e., toothache caused by pulpitis or a dental abscess ). After dental pain, the second most common cause of orofacial pain is temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD). All other causes of orofacial pain are relatively more rare, in comparison, although the full differential diagnosis is extensive.

It is not yet clear, from the results of the literature, whether early diagnosis is desirable because tissue tolerance and its power of adjustment are at or near their maxim. From the emerging trends in dentistry, it seems that early diagnosis of orofacial pain not only decreases the need of therapy but also may improve the patient’s spirit of cooperation and compliance and reduce the incidence of subjects affected by chronic pain. Chronic pain remains a major healthcare problem despite noteworthy advancements in diagnostics and invasive and noninvasive interventions. The pathogenesis of chronic orofacial pain and the discussion overlapping mechanisms in comparison with other types of chronic pain are also a debated research topic.

The personal and societal costs are not inconsequential.

The majority of patients with pain, including those with chronic pain, are initially managed in the primary care setting. Primary care dentistry practitioners must have scant time, resources, and training to effectively assess, treat, and monitor these cases or send them to specialists.

A number of evidence- and expert consensus-based treatment guidelines on risk mitigation have been developed, but they have been underutilized in both specialty and primary care clinics.

This special issue concerns the new frontiers of the delivery systems for risk stratification, intervention, and monitoring of patients with pain receiving dental treatments, with particular attention to the utilization of new technologies. This special issue is also intended to present and discuss diagnostic algorithms to manage orofacial pain.

The objective of this special issue is to establish the state of the art for the most relevant painful orofacial pathologies, to describe new technologies and their different application fields to control pain, and to emphasize new efficient implementations of diagnostic criteria for orofacial pain.

It is expected to address and report the more recent advanced topics in the management of orofacial pain and describe the ultimate new techniques and tools in both academic researches and real-world applications.

The researches and clinical applications of recent innovations are especially encouraged to be submitted to this special issue, to present the latest research and development in this growing field.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Orofacial pain
• Management of chronic orofacial pain
• Evidence- and expert consensus-based treatment guidelines for orofacial pain
• Most relevant painful orofacial pathologies advancements in diagnostics of orofacial pain
• New instrumentation for the behavioral measurement of nociception and somatosensitivity for orofacial pain
• Sleep disorders and orofacial pain 
• Neurovascular orofacial pain
• Ultimate new techniques for the management of orofacial pain
• Controversies and potential therapeutic implications in orofacial pain management
• New tools and recent innovations in the management of orofacial pain
• Functional appliances for the treatment of orofacial pain
• The pathogenesis of chronic orofacial pain, in comparison with other types of chronic pain
• Burning mouth syndrome