Contribution of the mucosal tactile information to the mandibular position sense in patients wearing dentures.
The effects of mechanical stimulation of denture-bearing mucosa on the perception of mandibular position was tested in five patients wearing dentures. In order to produce mucosal stimulation of different intensities, five types of a punctate stimulus plate each having a different number of raised points was used. A hydraulic vertical displacement meter was also used so as to vary mandibular position. The mandibular position sense altered with changes in the physical stimulus intensity to the denture-bearing mucosa within a limit of jaw separation (less than 2.3 mm). In addition, the increases of the stimulus intensities stabilized the response regarding the mandibular position discrimination. From these results, it has been suggested that the tactile information from the denture-bearing mucosa regulates the neural mechanism concerning the mandibular position discrimination.
Munakata
Y
Y
Department of Oral Physiology, Ohu University School of Dentistry, Koriyama, Japan.
Kasai
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003766:Dental Occlusion; D003824:Denture, Complete; D006801:Humans; D008334:Mandible; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology