Postoperative Pain: An Analysis on Evolution of Research in Half-Century

After graduating from the University of Alberta Faculty of Dentistry, Dr. Nixdorf completed hospital dentistry residency at The Ohio State University, Anesthesia fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, Orofacial Pain fellowship at the University of Alberta, and a Master of Science in Clinical Research at the University of Minnesota. As a Diplomate of the National Dental Board of Anesthesiology (NDBA) and the American Board of Orofacial Pain (ABOP), he maintains a specialty Orofacial Pain practice on the diagnoses and management of chronic TMD pain, headaches, and neuropathic pain within multi-disciplinary settings. Dr. Nixdorf’s research has focused on the topics of non-odontogenic “tooth” pain from a classification, diagnosis, epidemiology, and treatment perspectives, as well as TMD and, most recently, dental MRI, with over 85 published articles. Dr. Nixdorf is Professor, Division Director, and past Graduate Program Director at the University of Minnesota in the Division of TMD & Orofacial Pain.

Dr. Alan Law received his Doctor of Dental Surgery and Certificate in Endodontics from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, Iowa City, Iowa. He also completed his PhD, “Mechanisms and Modulation of Orofacial Pain”, with the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Iowa. Dr. Law has published over 40 articles in scientific and clinical journals, and has co-authored chapters on The Non-Odontogenic Toothache and Regenerative Endodontics in Pathways of the Pulp, and has lectured at over 300 local, national and international meetings. Dr. Law is a member the American Dental Association, American Association of Endodontics, and Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society, and a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists. He is a Past President of the American Association of Endodontists, Past President of the Minnesota Association of Endodontists, and Past President of the American Board of Endodontics. He is in full –time practice in the Twin Cities, and President of The Dental Specialists, a multi-specialty dental practice with over 35 specialists. He is also a Research Professor in the Division of Endodontics at the University of Minnesota.

Omid Dianat earned his 2nd Endodontics Certificate and Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in June 2020. He obtained his Doctorate in Dental Surgery with honors in 2005 from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Dental School, Tehran. After graduation, he immediately commenced an Endodontic Postgraduate Program at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, earning his 1st Endodontics Certificate and Master's degree in 2008.

Before relocating to the United States in 2015, Dr. Dianat served for seven years as a full-time faculty member in the Endodontic Department at Shahid Beheshti University, where he was teaching to both predoctoral and postgraduate students. His extensive research portfolio includes numerous systematic reviews, clinical trials, animal studies, and in-vitro investigations, culminating in over 75 publications in national and international PubMed-indexed dental journals.

Dr. Dianat's current and past research interests span pain mechanisms and management, advances in technology and biomaterials, Dynamic Navigation in endodontics, and the integration of Artificial Intelligence in dental practices.

He is currently a full-time practitioner at Irvine Endodontics and serves as dean's faculty at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.