Abstract

Jaw pain after dental and orthodontic procedures presents commonly in primary care and osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) clinics. Osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine (OCMM) treatment of the jaw and head can both provide pain relief and improve temporomandibular joint function after dental procedures.

In this case report, a 47-year-old woman with severe jaw pain had worsening pain after a repeated root canal procedure and was unable to chew solid foods. She was scheduled for another root canal for the affected tooth but after serial cranial osteopathic treatments, she was to avoid a third procedure due to periodontal tissue improvement. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first case report involving the use of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) for jaw pain following root canal procedures.