Beliefs and distress about orofacial pain: patient journey through a specialist pain consultation.

Aims: To explore patients' understanding of their orofacial pain, as this is an under-researched area despite emerging as a common aim of consultation.

Methods: Twelve people with chronic orofacial pain were interviewed shortly before their first consultation at a specialist facial pain clinic about their understanding of their pain, and they completed self-report measures of distress and pain interference. A day after the consultation, they wrote a short letter about how they now understood their pain and were then interviewed by phone.