Pain Management?

[pharmer]

I'm a med student but I was curious to find out something from the dental students here. Are there pain management residencies for dentists like there are for MD/DOs to specialize in pain management. The reason I ask is because I noticed the other day someone having the title DDS that was part of a pain management group. What do these pain management DDS do and what kind of background do they usually have. Do they usually have a pretty extensive background in anethesia or what? Just curious.

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[c132]

To my knowledge, the ADA doesn't recognize such a specialty. Pain management is just a subspecialty of anesthesiology, an MD.

 

[DDSSlave]

I'm a med student but I was curious to find out something from the dental students here. Are there pain management residencies for dentists like there are for MD/DOs to specialize in pain management. The reason I ask is because I noticed the other day someone having the title DDS that was part of a pain management group. What do these pain management DDS do and what kind of background do they usually have. Do they usually have a pretty extensive background in anethesia or what? Just curious.

I'm only a 3rd yr so I'm not the best person to respond, but here are my thoughts-
There is no recognized dental specialty (nor residency I presume) in pain management or anesthesiology. There is CE on the subject. Needless to say, pain management is a big deal in dentistry. Just graduating from dental school the dentist should have extensive knowledge in pain management pharm, local anesthesia, conscious sedation, nitrous sedation and the clinical experience to back it up. Many specialists are certified in IV sedation (there are CE opportunities for the gp). And Oral Surgeons have a strong background in general anesthesia. Now, does this dentist have any different background from the average dentist? I would guess not, unless he's an oral surgeon. I would think any dentist could join that group and manage the dental side of pt's pain. I am interested in what his specific role is in the group. Are these pts that pose a contraindication to dental work, and his job is to manager their dental related pain? Otherwise, why not just refer the pt out to a dentist or oral surgeon? Hopefully this helps. Anyone that spots any errors, please correct me.

 

[c132]

I seen some dentists that have to jump into pain management. One case that comes to mind was a lady who had severe radiation to her mandible and then he teeth needed to be jerked. They did one and she didn't heal until like 3 years later! So in these instances, a dentist, which I would imagine an periodontist/GP team or maybe even an oral surgeon would do it, but again, dunno for sure. OMS took the case here.

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

My guess is that he takes care of the orofacial and TMJ-related cases. Because of the unique knowledge and skill set required to manage TMJ problems, a well-trained dentist would be the first choice to deal with these problems. There are sooo many people suffering from chronic headaches and other referred pain that is directly related to their occlusion and TMJ. Often these people have suffered for years going from family practice doc to neurologist to dentist to pain management centers with no relief until stumbling upon a dentist trained in diagnosing and managing these problems. The results are life-changing for these people. There are even dentists in solo practice who treat almost nothing but orofacial and TMJ pain.

If you are interested, this book is an awesome introduction: OKESON

 

[ItsGavinC]

To my knowledge, the ADA doesn't recognize such a specialty. Pain management is just a subspecialty of anesthesiology, an MD.

Not an ADA recognized specialty, but Ohio State University does have a 27-month anesthesiology masters program that dental graduates can apply to through PASS and match with.

I don't know if the seats are in high demand or not.