Trigeminal neuropathy and neuritis. A study of etiology with emphasis on dental causes.

Trigeminal neuropathy is a syndrome in which there is a disorder of sensation (and occasionally of motility) confined to the distribution of the fifth cranial nerve. Treatment for this condition depends upon understanding of its causes, which are various. Sixty-one cases of trigeminal neuropathy were separated into six groups, according to the presumed cause. The neuropathy followed a dental procedure in 21 patients and resulted from the pressure of a denture on the mental nerve in another eight. Surgical (other than dental) or mechanical trauma caused eight instances. Hydroxystilbamidine isethionate produced bilateral trigeminal neuropathy in seven cases. Ten patients made up a miscellaneous group, of whom three had tumors, two had intracranial aneurysms, and two had herpetic lesions. There was also a group of seven in which no cause was discovered.