Case Western University Clinic

Tackling Facial Pain

(Excerpt from article written by Daniel Robinson for Think,  photo: MIKE SANDS Andres Pinto, front, and colleagues Tania Jhamb and Aurelio Alonso)

 It was a typical day at a new Case Western Reserve dental clinic, where specialists led by      Andres Pinto, DMD, MPH, handle puzzling cases of facial pain that referring doctors can't    resolve……..

 "Usually patients suffer at least a year and a half before coming to us because so few doctors are  trained to diagnose their conditions," said Pinto, an associate professor of oral medicine, chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences at the School of Dental Medicine, and an attending doctor at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "Our clinic brings

together the [dental medicine] field's four diagnostic disciplines: radiology, pathology, facial pain and oral medicine. It's a one-stop shop found in only a handful of places in the country."

The dental school recruited Pinto nearly two years ago to expand its focus on the growing field of oral medicine and facial pain—in research, education and diagnosis. Since then, he has led the merger of two departments into one; overseen the development of a new course on the connection between dental and general medicine; recruited two oral and maxillofacial specialists—one in pathology and the other in radiology; and launched the Oral Medicine and Orofacial Pain Clinic, inviting a colleague already at the dental school to also join the team.

Read the full article.