Pain is a universally known and feared human condition, yet surely it is one of the least understood. Within this century it has been a philosophic problem, an enigma of neurophysiology, a psychological puzzle, a challenge to anesthesiologists, oncologists, nurses, clinicians of all kinds; and much of what we now think we know about pain still seems contradictory and paradoxical.
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Pain and the Dentist
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Here is another puzzle: how did the most versatile and productive pain research unit at NIH establish itself in the National Institute of Dental Research?
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The story begins in the late 1950s in the dentist's office. The mass screenings of the World Wars had revealed the failure of many Americans to seek regular dental care and the disastrous consequences that followed. The American Dental Association, the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR; renamed the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) in 1999), and other authorities actively promoted regular dental visits, especially for children. But increased numbers of visits only pointed to the underlying problem: many Americans associated dentistry with pain and faced each appointment with dread.
Seeking to alleviate patient fears, dentists offered general anesthesia for many routine procedures.
It is estimated," NIDR researcher Edward Driscoll wrote in 1960, "that in many parts of the country...there are nearly as many general anesthetics administered in dental offices as there are in the local hospitals."
