Learning Objectives:

Abstract:

The most common complaint causing a person to seek the services of an oral health care provider is pain. Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Proper management of pain requires an understand¬ing of its complexity, an appreciation for the factors that determine its expression in the clinical setting, the implementation of disease-modifying procedures (primary dental care) and sound pharmacological strategies (analgesia) in the postoperative period.

Outline:

1. Introduction
2. Physiology of pain
3. Activation of acute pain pathways
4. Intrinsic modulation of nociception
5. Role of the higher CNS in pain
6. Pharmacology of analgesics
7. Therapeutic considerations
8. NSAIDs
9. Acetaminophen
10. Opioid agonists
11. Adverse drug events
12. Conclusion