Due to geographic‐specific patient and institutional‐related barriers to care, data extrapolation and expert opinion on global burden of disease in otolaryngology–head and neck surgery may under‐ or overestimate the presence and effect of common head and neck conditions. The group of conditions that fail to present to local physicians and/or missed in data extrapolation methods is the unseen burden of disease. This article presents opinions from otolaryngology–head and neck surgery physicians in high‐ and low/middle‐income countries to help explain the contributing factors and ultimately how to use this unseen burden of disease.