Not only dentists, but also doctors of various specialties encounter orofacial pain (OFP) in their practice. Odontogenic pain is well and predictably relieved with dental therapy. Nonodontogenic toothache is often difficult to identify and may compromise the clinician’s diagnostic abilities. Incorrect diagnostic assessment of reffered visceral OFP, especially of cardiac origin, can lead to late diagnosis in a patient with cardiac pathology. A search for publications indicating a connection between OFP and coronary artery disease (CAD) was conducted in the PubMed and Scopus databases for the period up to 12/01/2023. Epidemiological evidence suggests that referred OFP in CAD is more common than previously thought. The review addresses the issues of the pathogenesis of OFP of cardiac origin. An analysis of 18 clinical cases in 15 publications was carried out. The results of clinical studies indicating that non-odontogenic orofacial pain during myocardial ischemia occurs on average in 4–5% of patients with coronary artery disease and in some cases may be the only manifestation of myocardial ischemia are presented. Patients with CAD in whom OFP is the only manifestation of myocardial ischemia are at higher risk of misdiagnosis and death. Awareness of the internist and dentist about this atypical symptomatology can be crucial for early diagnosis, timely treatment and favorable prognosis.

Keywords: non-odontogenic toothache, odontogenic toothache, orofacial pain, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease