RESEARCH ARTICLE
Passive Periodontal Sensation Threshold of Upper Molars in Patients with Myofascial Pain
Atsutoshi Hirata1, Seiya Kato2, Acing Habibie Mude2, Kazuhiro Oki2, *, Tadashi Matsunaga3, Shogo Minagi2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2018Volume: 12
First Page: 1012
Last Page: 1020
Publisher ID: TODENTJ-12-1012
DOI: 10.2174/1874210601811131012
Article History:
Received Date: 20/08/2018Revision Received Date: 25/10/2018
Acceptance Date: 11/11/2018
Electronic publication date: 30/11/2018
Collection year: 2018

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background and Objective:
The relationship between periodontal sensation and Myofascial Pain (MP) is not yet fully clarified. The aim of this study was to test the null hypothesis that there is no difference in the periodontal sensation threshold between subjects with MP and subjects with no Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD).
Methods:
Participants have clinically assessed in accordance with the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders version 1.0 guidelines and assigned to the MP group (mean age 54.8 ± 14.8 years; 1 male and 11 females) or the control group (mean age: 63.9 ± 13.2 years; 1 male and 15 females). The Passive Periodontal Sensation Threshold (PPST) was evaluated using impulsive mechanical stimulation on the occlusal surface parallel to the tooth axis of the maxillary first molar, if present. The difference in the mean PPST between the MP group and the control group was evaluated using the Student t-test after checking for homoscedasticity.
Results:
The mean PPST value was 1050.1 ± 480.3 mN in the MP group and 712.3 ± 288.5 mN in the control group. A significant difference was observed between these mean PPST values (p = 0.045).
Conclusion:
There was a significant difference in PPST between the MP group and the control group. Although the etiology of the change of PPST is still unknown, the higher PPST value observed in MP patients suggests that future study on occlusal dysesthesia or occlusal sensation-related pathosis is warranted.