Overview
Most of us will experience orofacial pain at some stage, and in 10% this pain will persist. Integral to pain management is patient education, as it helps reduce fear, and increase coping ability and treatment participation and adherence. Patients need to know what pain is, why it may persist without signs of disease, and how effective treatments work.

This course, which is part of the University of Sydney’s Jaw Function and Orofacial Pain Unit’s education series, aims to provide you with information to help educate patients in these areas.

At the end of the course, you will be able to explain to patients the basic neural pathways involved in pain, how the brain has its own endogenous mechanisms for suppressing pain and why the pain experience is uniquely individual. You will also be able to explain to patients how strategies to manage pain work, including less conventional ones such as acupuncture and trans-cutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. This will be in the context of orofacial pain, including chronic muscle and jaw joint pain.

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