Pain

The sensation of pain (dolor) is triggered by pain stimuli (cold, heat, stress), absorbed by pain receptors (see nociceptors below) and transmitted to the brain via sensitive nerve fibres. Common to all pain stimuli is a tissue irritation in which the body's own substances such as histamine, hydrogen ions, serotonin, etc. are released which cause the excitation of the pain receptors.

Acute pain: Pain is a complex sensory perception which, as an acute event, has the character of a warning and guiding signal, but which has lost this character as chronic pain and in this case should be seen and treated today as an independent clinical picture.

Chronic pain: Chronic pain caused by dental problems occurs when pain loses its actual function as a warning signal and acquires an independent disease value. Toothache does not always have an organic cause, often the psyche plays a major role. Affected patients complain of persistent pain due to stress or tension in private or professional life. Teeth can also be a stress barometer. If you are prepared for worse pain, you will feel the pain more strongly than if you subjectively expect a bearable pain. Fear of pain is very common, especially dental fear. Dentists distinguish between dental fear and dental phobia. The fear symptoms are the same and often a combination of different fears. The difference between anxiety and phobia is in their severity. A phobia usually affects the patient's entire quality of life, because phobic patients pull out all the stops to keep the threatening situation completely out of their lives, no matter how much pain they feel.

Basically, a distinction is made between:

• the well localizable surface pain (e.g. toothache)
• dull, imprecisely localisable deep pain (after contusions without bruising, headache, etc.)
• Intestinal pain that tends to cramp (heart, intestines, gall bladder)
• and acute and chronic pain.
• Phantom pain (special form of a pain syndrome)

Severe painful processes are associated with vegetative side effects, which can manifest themselves as paleness, sweating, dilation of the pupils, blood pressure fluctuations and even collapse. The pain experience can be influenced by learning processes. Pain usually triggers defensive reactions, aggression reactions and flight reactions.

The sensation of pain (dolor) is triggered by pain stimuli (cold, heat, stress), absorbed by pain receptors (see nociceptors below) and transmitted to the brain via sensitive nerve fibres. Common to all pain stimuli is a tissue irritation in which the body's own substances such as histamine, hydrogen ions, serotonin, etc. are released which cause the excitation of the pain receptors.

Pain elimination through anaesthesia can be induced at the peripheral pain receptors by local anaesthetics, by interrupting the pain conduction, by attenuating the pain centre in the brain using analgesics or by influencing pain awareness (distraction, hypnosis, anaesthesia). See also caries - toothache, bite pain, pulpitis toothache, gangrene pain.