ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To carry out a literature review on major orofacial neuropathic pains, their differential diagnosis and therapies. CONTENTS: Neuropathic pains may be classified as episodic or continuous. They may be unilateral and more infrequently bilateral. They may last for seconds, hours or days and may present as electrical shock or burning pain, favorably responding to pharmacological treatment. There are situations in which the first therapeutic choice is dental surgery and/or neurosurgery, especially in cases of malignancies. Without accurate diagnosis there is major possibility of poor results. Diagnosis is based on clinical history associated to pain quality, duration and clinical, surgical or combined therapeutic response. Additional exams may be needed in some cases, such as standard periapical radiography of the area to be investigated, panoramic X-rays, computerized tomography and magnetic resonance of the skull base for possible diagnostic confirmation. Treatment may be conservative using anticonvulsants associated or not to antidepressants, local anesthetic infiltration with or without steroid, and orofacial and neurosurgical procedures. CONCLUSION: Health professionals acting in the area of orofacial pain have to be able to establish the differential diagnosis of different neuropathic orofacial pains, since they may have similar clinical presentations involving a same facial territory in a same temporal space, responding differently to the same therapies. Understanding all of this makes available basically two favorable outcomes: improved quality of life or cure of existing neuropathic pain.