[Pathophysiology of orofacial pain].

The pathophysiology of different kinds of orofacial pains is discussed. (a) Stimulus-induced pain may be elicited e.g. by surgical interventions at the teeth. Nociceptors stimulated by noxious stimulation induce not only pain sensations but contribute also to regulating the blood flow, directly by releasing vasoactive peptides, and indirectly by inducing sympathetic reflexes, (b) Inflammatory pain has its origin in an sensitization of nociceptor units by several kinds of endogenous neuro-vasoactive substances. (c) Chronic pains are either the consequence of motor or vegetative dysregulations or of neuropathic origin. The implications for different kinds of pain pathophysiology for therapeutic strategies are discussed.