The "problematic patient": what is the problem?

Problem: When patients report pronounced physical complaints without sufficient somatic findings to substantiate them, practitioners sometimes refer to these patients as being "problem patients" or "difficult patients". When such an attribution is assigned, it usually denotes a difficult interpersonal relationship between practitioners and patients, which can be further exacerbated by deficits related to professional expertise, communication and dental fee schedules. Discussion/Conclusion: On the basis of examples of persistent temporomandibular disorders/orofacial pain, it is recommended that professionally practicing dentists should live up to their responsibility and trust given to them by patients. For that purpose, dentists must be aware of their limits of compe-tence and be cautious about overestimating their abilities. There are not only "difficult patients"; there are also "difficult dentists". Keywords: health care provider's role, clinical decision-making, communication, craniomandibular disorders, dentist-patient relationship, interpretation, pattern recognition