Pathology Mimicking Orofacial Pain

Shaiba Sandhu; Shruti Handa

doi:10.1016/j.cden.2022.07.009

Pathology Mimicking Orofacial Pain

Dent Clin North Am. 2023 Jan;67(1):117-127. doi: 10.1016/j.cden.2022.07.009. Epub 2022 Oct 27.

Authors

Shaiba Sandhu¹, Shruti Handa²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Orofacial Pain, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: ssandhu@mgh.harvard.edu.
² Division of Orofacial Pain, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.

PMID: 36404072
DOI: 10.1016/j.cden.2022.07.009

Abstract

A case of a 64-year-old woman is reported, who developed new-onset pain over a preexisting area of right mandibular fullness. Clinical examination, MRI, and fine-needle aspiration cytology confirmed the diagnosis of a benign parotid gland tumor-pleomorphic adenoma, which was treated by total parotidectomy with complete removal of the tumor. When evaluating a patient with orofacial pain, oral health care providers should be cognizant of all potential differential diagnoses, especially in the setting of red flags such as persistent or enlarging facial swelling/fullness.

Keywords: Facial swelling; Orofacial pain; Parotid gland swelling; Pleomorphic adenoma; Salivary gland tumors.

Publication types

Case Reports
Review

MeSH terms

Adenoma, Pleomorphic* / diagnosis
Adenoma, Pleomorphic* / pathology
Adenoma, Pleomorphic* / therapy
Biopsy, Fine-Needle
Diagnosis, Differential
Facial Pain / diagnosis
Facial Pain / etiology
Female
Humans
Middle Aged
Parotid Neoplasms* / diagnosis
Parotid Neoplasms* / pathology
Parotid Neoplasms* / therapy