Neuralgia-inducing cavitational osteonecrosis (NICO) is a diagnosis whereby a putative jawbone cavitation causes chronic facial neuralgia; this is different from osteonecrosis of the jaw.[1] In NICO the pain is said to result from the degenerating nerve ("neuralagia").[2][3][1] The condition is probably rare, if it does exist.[4]

Also called Ratner's bone cavity, a neuralgia-inducing cavitational osteonecrosis was first described in dental literature by G V Black in 1920.[5] Several decades later, oral pathologist Jerry E Bouquot took especial interest in NICO.[5]

The diagnostic criteria for NICO are imprecise, and the research offered to support it is flawed.[6] The diagnosis is popular among holistic dentists[7] who attempt to treat NICO by surgically removing the dead bone they say is causing the pain.[8]

It has been rejected as quackery by some dentists and maxillofacial surgeons.[9][10][11][12] In its position statement, dated 1996, the American Association of Endodontists asserted that although NICO occur and are treatable in toothless areas, NICO occurrence and treatment at endodontically treated teeth is generally implausible, that the diagnosis ought to be a last resort, and that routine extraction of endodontically treated teeth is misguided.[5]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Bouquot JE, Roberts AM, Person P, Christian J (March 1992). "Neuralgia-inducing cavitational osteonecrosis (NICO). Osteomyelitis in 224 jawbone samples from patients with facial neuralgia". Oral Surg. Oral Med. Oral Pathol. 73 (3): 307–19, discussion 319–20. doi:10.1016/0030-4220(92)90127-C. PMID 1545963.
  2. ^ Ratner EJ, Person P, Kleinman DJ, Shklar G, Socransky SS (July 1979). "Jawbone cavities and trigeminal and atypical facial neuralgias". Oral Surg. Oral Med. Oral Pathol. 48 (1): 3–20. doi:10.1016/0030-4220(79)90229-9. PMID 287984.
  3. ^ Roberts AM, Person P (October 1979). "Etiology and treatment of idiopathic trigeminal and atypical facial neuralgias". Oral Surg. Oral Med. Oral Pathol. 48 (4): 298–308. doi:10.1016/0030-4220(79)90027-6. PMID 291856.
  4. ^ Scully, Crispian (2013). Oral and maxillofacial medicine: the basis of diagnosis and treatment (3rd ed.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-7020-4948-4.
  5. ^ a b c "AAE Position Statement on NICO lesions (Neuralgia-Inducing Cavitational Osteonecrosis)" (PDF). AAE Research and Scientific Affairs Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  6. ^ Zuniga JR (September 2000). "Challenging the neuralgia-inducing cavitational osteonecrosis concept". J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 58 (9): 1021–8. doi:10.1053/joms.2000.8745. PMID 10981982.
  7. ^ Yi, Daniel (18 June 2006). "Roots of a Dental Controversy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  8. ^ Bouquot JE, Christian J (April 1995). "Long-term effects of jawbone curettage on the pain of facial neuralgia". J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 53 (4): 387–97, discussion 397–9. doi:10.1016/0278-2391(95)90708-4. PMID 7699492.
  9. ^ Follmar KE (2003). "Taking a stand against fraud and quackery in dentistry". J Am Coll Dent. 70 (3): 4–5. PMID 14977370.
  10. ^ Kreidler, Marc (18 May 2019). "Cavitational Osteopathosis, Bouquot, NICO, and 'Biological Dentistry'". Quackwatch.
  11. ^ Bouquot JE, McMahon RE (2003). "Charlatans in dentistry: Ethics of the NICO wars". J Am Coll Dent. 70 (3): 38–41. PMID 14977380.
  12. ^ Sciubba, JJ (July 2009). "Neuralgia-inducing cavitational osteonecrosis: a status report". Oral Diseases. 15 (5): 309–12. doi:10.1111/j.1601-0825.2009.01532.x. PMID 19371400.

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