MULTIMODAL DENTAL PAIN MANAGEMENT: CONTEMPORARY STRATEGIES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Dental pain is one of the most prevalent and clinically significant concerns in dental practice, substantially impacting patient comfort, treatment compliance, and oral health related quality of life. Owing to its multifactorial pathophysiology, dental pain is often inadequately controlled by single-agent analgesic approaches, which are further constrained by dose limitations, adverse effects, and growing concerns regarding opioid use.Multimodal dental pain management has therefore emerged as an evidence-based strategy that integrates pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions to target multiple pain pathways simultaneously. This literature review discusses the rationale for multimodal analgesia in dentistry with an emphasis on optimized local anesthesia techniques,non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs, acetaminophen, corticosteroids,judicious opioid sparing and opioid use when indicated.Adjunctive nonpharmacologic modalities, including behavioral and cognitive interventions,photobiomodulation,cryotherapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, acupuncture, and virtual reality based distraction are also reviewed, acknowledging variability in the strength of clinical evidence supporting their use.