The well-being of worldwide aging population is being threatened by prevalent chronic pain, exerting insurmountable pressure on nations’ economy and welfare systems. Besides significant economic burden, substantial disability, damages to quality of life, disruption in both family and social ties give rise to ...
The well-being of worldwide aging population is being threatened by prevalent chronic pain, exerting insurmountable pressure on nations’ economy and welfare systems. Besides significant economic burden, substantial disability, damages to quality of life, disruption in both family and social ties give rise to irremediable consequences for society at large. Given the fact that pain is a complex to handle, subjective experience, there lacks a gold standard in diagnosis and treatment that can be applied at scale. Therefore, chronic pain management is an issue worthy of careful investigation and long-term investment. Among many types of chronic pain, those without obvious pathology are the most difficult to deal with, thus induce recurring expenses. Chronic orofacial pain (COFP) is not merely a dental problem, but often central to a hub of other interconnected psychosomatic, psychosocial, and neurological disorders. Therefore, we are convinced that tackling COFP potentially offers a key piece in the puzzle, which allows complexity of intractable pain to be parsed into concrete models. Such effort will require acknowledging the necessity of multidisciplinary pain research and treatment.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together a collection of papers that individually and collectively used multidisciplinary approach in the management of chronic orofacial pain. This may prove crucial in guiding future treatment, as well as understanding multifactorial nature and development trajectory of COFP. Such findings can be generalized to various inter-related chronic pains, providing solid foundation to future pain research.
We welcome the submission of manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics: Special focus will be given (but is not restricted) to:
1. Identifying the biomarkers of COFP by integrating pain-related disciplines:
- Subjective clinical assessment (mostly self-reports)
- Objective physiological measurement (qualitative sensory testing, blood test, saliva test)
- Brain imaging data
2. Developing comprehensive toolkits for diagnostic and personalized pain management for COFP
3. Recent advances in pharmacotherapy related to unique subtypes of chronic orofacial pain
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.