TREATMENT-SEEKING PATTERNS OF FACIAL-PAIN PATIENTS - MANY POSSIBILITIES, LIMITED SATISFACTION

Knowledge about the different kinds of treatment provided to patients with nonmalignant musculoskeletal facial pain is limited. The present study was based on 206 consecutive patients who were referred to a uni versity-based tertiary care clinic for the diagnosis and management of persistent facial pain. Its purpose was to get information about the number and specialty of providers consulted by patients prior to their referral, and to follow the underlying treatment-seeking patterns. Th e results showed that on average 4.88 providers from 44 different cate gories were consulted. A general dentist or a dental specialist was se en by about 70% of patients. For patients whose first provider was a d entist, the most likely subsequent provider was another dentist. Conve rsely, if the first provider was a physician, chances were greater tha t the subsequent provider tt,as a physician rather than a dentist. Amo ng the nondental therapies patients received physical therapy was chos en most frequently (42.2%). More than 60% of patients had at least one nondental treatment; however, the majority of these patients experien ced two or move different types of such therapy (eg, chiropractic, ost eopathic, relaxation training). Patients' satisfaction with cave and t reatment was moderate, since only 18.5% of the patients were very sati sfied, while 27.7% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. The present findings, which corroborate a recent study from the Kansas City, Miss ouri, region, indicate that patients with persistent facial pain see a large number of different providers, and that nonmedical/nondental tr eatment approaches are common. The moderate satisfaction experienced w ith any of the therapies points out that much needs to be done before this patient population is served satisfactorily.