To Pain or Not to Pain? Is the Pain the Criterion of Severity in Oral Diseases?

Pain is an unpleasant sensation and emotional experience usually associated with tissue damage. Its purpose is to activate the human organism to react and to prevent further tissue damage. Pain is very closely connected with Dentistry and elimination of this is aim of all of us. Dental decay and periodontal diseases are most common intraoral diseases associated with different level of pain, intense or chronic. In oral mucosa there are a variety of lesions and diseases, that express recognizable signs and symptoms, whereas other oral diseases which are asymptomatic and cause a difficulty in recognition by the dentist. Oral ulceration of different causes, vesiculobullous lesions such as herpetic stomatitis, multiform erythema, pemphigus, bullus pemphigoid, systemic diseases such as Crohn’s disease, oral candidiasis, allergies and syndromes as Adamantiadis-Behcet’s scare patient and guide to dentist s chair. On the other hand oral pigmentation black or brown lesions of the oral mucosa , such as malignant melanoma, and precancerous lesions such as red lesions like erythroplakia and white lesions like leucoplakia many times are not recognized from patients and as a result the above mentioned conditions represent a real danger for their lifes. Our purpose is to describe the severity of lesions that can potentially have as a result malignant changes, with common characteristic the absence of pain in early stage at least. As a conclusion, despite the fact that pain is many times beneficial for patient because it guides to dentist, the absence of pain does not mean absolutely, that everything is all right for patient’s health. It s our responsibility to be well educated and well updated and to inform our patients for the need of self examination weekly and for twice a year examination in their Dentist, in order to avoid situations that can be develop dangerous for their health.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Antonis Kallifatidis

Dr Antonis Kallifatidis was born in Thessaloniki ,Macedonia Greece in 1969.
He studied Dentistry in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki until 1994.
He finished the postgraduate course Msc, in Conservative Dentistry in 1996.
From 2001 is a member of the department of Oral Pathology in Dental School of Thessaloniki, where he complete his postgraduate studies in Oral Pathology and become a Phd doctor in 2008.
He is a clinician and research fellow of the Department of Oral Pathology and he has give many lectures .
He speaks English and German.
He is councilor of Hellenic Dental Association and representative of Greece in E.R.O.