Emeritus Prof Paul V Abbott AO Oration 2025

Speaker: Professor Alex Moule

Professor Alex Moule is an experienced endodontist with a passion for sharing knowledge and mentoring young professionals.  Throughout his long career, he has balanced the demands of a busy clinical practice with involvement in societies and universities worldwide. He continues to teach and be involved in research in the fields of pain diagnosis and dental traumatology. Alex is a past world president of the International Association of Dental Traumatology and an honorary life member of both the ANZAE and the ASE. He was recently appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to dentistry as a clinician and an academic and to professional organizations.

Title: Orofacial Pain: Is it dental or not?

Abstract:

As clinicians, we are called upon to diagnose facial pain on a daily basis.  For the most part, this is a routine procedure, accomplished without too much difficulty. Most painful conditions follow certain predictable patterns and exhibit specific signs and symptoms, which, when observed, make diagnosis relatively easy. Patients do present, however, for whom diagnosis is difficult and where pain patterns do not follow recognised norms.  Many of these difficult cases can have unsatisfactory outcomes for both patients and practitioners.

 Difficulties in assessing these complex cases will be discussed, not by describing the various painful conditions, but by addressing the questions that need to be asked and then analysing responses to these (What should I ask? What does this answer mean? What else do I need to know?). Emphasis is placed on the specific words used by patients and on observing their verbal and non-verbal responses to questioning. Numerous case histories will be presented in a problem-solving format.

Material for this presentation has been sourced from decades of practice-based research, watching and listening to patients in pain, and recording observations, culminating in the publication of the book Diagnosing Dental and Orofacial Pain, A Clinical Manual. Moule, A.J and Hicks, M.L. (eds). Wiley Blackwell, Oxford, UK.in 2017.