Atypical facial pain.

"Atypical facial pain" is the current label for a possibly heterogeneous group of discomforts localized in the lower half of the head and often confused with dental disease. As illustrated in seventeen cases reviewed here, the condition occurs mostly in women, and there are often neurotic problems in addition to the pain. The pain is dull or burning, incessant, and, in contrast to trigeminal neuralgia, relatively poorly relieved by carbamazepine or diphenylhydantoin sodium; antidepressants and psychotropic agents are worth considering. Although local pathology can occasionally be detected, in this condition the entire state of the patient and the emotional concomitants of the illness require particular attention.