Congenital insensitivity to pain: Review with dental implications

Abstract

Pain causes a reflex withdrawal from any stimuli that can cause actual or potential tissue damage. It is frequently an early symptom of a disease process and is often the impetus for a patient to seek medical treatment. In many disorders where pain appears late, patients are at risk of developing complications without getting noticed. ′Congenital insensitivity to pain′ is a rare disorder. Traumatic injury and self-mutilation is an almost consistent feature in this disorder. Injuries most frequently involve the oral and paraoral structures such as teeth, lips, tongue, and also ears, eyes, nose, and fingers. Oral manifestations may be the presenting complaint. Thus, it is important for the clinicians to be familiar with the condition. The present article provides a brief review of the condition and its insinuation in dentistry.

Keywords

• Congenital analgesia
• congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis
• familial trophoneurosis
• hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy
• hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy