Odontalgia

Summary

Patients with odontogenic pain (OP) represent a broad spectrum of both disease etiology and severity. This chapter overviews the most important systemic, parenteral, and topical analgesic choices available to the acute care provider trying to relieve OP. NSAIDs are among the most widely used and well-studied drug classes used in management of acute and chronic OP, or odontalgia. Among the NSAIDs demonstrated to provide better pain relief than placebo is parenteral ketorolac. The mixed-mechanism drug tramadol provides pain relief that is partially mediated by opioid receptors. The supraperiosteal infiltration of local anesthetics usually provides suitable anesthesia when OP is emanating from a single maxillary tooth. Injection of local anesthetics is a legitimate, well-studied mechanism for providing relief of OP. In addition to its potential use in alveolar osteitis, benzocaine is efficacious in other causes of OP.