Blackwell Publishing LtdOxford, UKCHACephalalgia0333-1024Blackwell Science, 2006267902903Letter to the EditorLetters to the editorLetters to the editor LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Accurate diagnosis of facial pain Dear Sir We read with interest the timely article published by Zebenholzer et al. (1). Their findings should alert us all to the need for further study regarding the diagnosis and classification of facial pain. Applying the most recent classification of the International Headache Society (IHS) (2) to the 97 patients studied they found that about 21 % were diagnosed with persistent idiopathic facial pain and about 29 % were unclassifiable. As a tertiary pain centre the patients such as those reported (1) are usually complex, whilst it is reasonable to assume that straightforward cases such as temporomandib-ular disorders (TMD) are commonly diagnosed and treated efficiently at primary care centres