• Trigeminal Neuralgia is diagnosed clinically by the expert doctor with help of a physical examination and a detailed case history.
• The location and characteristic type of pain of Trigeminal Neuralgia along with possible trigger factors which the patient gives helps in diagnosis.
• Neurological Examination: Touching and examining the parts of the face helps the doctor determine location of Trigeminal Neuralgia. Two areas are to be tested: V3 branch of trigeminal nerve is examined which is responsible for chewing. V1 controls the corneal reflex. Corneal reflex is extracted when the area around the eye is touched causing the eye to blink.
• If these two findings are not normal then inflammatory or compression cause of the trigeminal nerve has to be looked for.
• An MRI helps to diagnose other conditions that may cause trigeminal neuralgia for examples tumors or multiple sclerosis.
• Dentists should be careful while solving a case of pain around jaw as the diagnosis is very near to other and if Trigeminal Neuralgia is diagnosed the extractions or other procedures must not be done unless absolutely necessary.