Abstract

Background
Headache is a common pain condition encountered in clinical practice. Many patients visit a doctor or dentist complaining of headaches accompanied by toothaches or facial pain. However, it has been reported that education on headaches is insufficient in medical schools, which is believed to be a more serious problem in dental schools.
Methods
We surveyed the current status of headache education curriculum in 11 dental schools in Korea.
Results
In most dental schools, headache education was provided as part of orofacial pain course within the oral medicine program. Only two universities covered headache as an in-depth postgraduate course. Lectures were delivered by oral medicine faculty, and only one university included a neurologist as part of the team teaching. Dental textbooks still described headaches based on the 2^nd edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders.
Conclusion
Currently, headache education in dental schools in Korea is inadequate and outdated. Considering the specificity of dentists who are in charge of pain in oral and facial region, continuous discussions and mutual cooperation with the neurology department are necessary to ensure sufficient education related to headaches during the undergraduate course.

• Keywords: Dental education, Dental school, Facial pain, Headache, Toothache