It’s what all dentists deal with every day. Of course sometimes the migraine is ours, and sometimes it belongs to our patients. Those who treat craniofacial pain on a regular basis recognize that there is a connection, and it is often difficult to discern exactly what that connection is or how it works. This Symposium looks at the dental connection between muscles and chronic pain. It will cover topics as diverse as trigger points,migraine and other headaches and chronic pain, the role of the central nervous system(cervical and glial) in chronic pain, and the way that the environment, in particular diet, can be used to alter that response. We will also examine the effect of sleep and sleep bruxism on migraine and chronic pain, and the role the dentist can take in the treatment of these conditions.

No-one should miss these 3 days. We have Drs Noshir Mehta, Nikolai Bogduk and Jamison Spencer back by popular demand. We are honoured to present Dr Gilles Lavigne, the world’s leading authority on sleep bruxism, Dr Egilius Spierings to discuss migraine from the point of view of a neurologist treating patients in a craniofacial pain centre, and Dr Paul Durham to discuss his research on the role of glia in migraine and the epigenetic effects of diet and the environment in chronic pain. Drs Peter Svensson and Karen Lucas will discuss the role of muscles and trigger points in chronic pain, and Dr Steven Olmos will present clinical pearls gleaned from many years of successful treatment of difficult patients.

For the first time we will also present a 2 day introductory course for dentists, hygienists and dental assistants new to the field of sleep and craniofacial pain presented by Drs Jamison Spencer and Tony Romero. The key to integrating this material into your practice is to make sure that you are surrounded by people who are as motivated and excited to start treating people as yourself. Don’t be surrounded by doubters, bring your staff and create an enthusiastic environment that will help you to get ahead in this field.

We are excited to be able to present to you this extraordinary group of lecturers, and we hope to see all of you in Sydney, Friday March 8th- Sunday March 10th 2013