title: Auricular electrical stimulation and dental pain threshold.
abstract: A modified double-blind evaluation of naloxone reversibility of dental analgesia produced by auricular electrical stimulation (AES) was examined in 40 subjects assigned randomly to one of four groups: AES followed by saline (AS), AES followed by naloxone (AN), placebo AES followed by saline (PS), and placebo AES followed by naloxone (PN). Dental pain threshold was tested using a hand-held dental pulp tester. A second investigator administered the true or placebo AES using an electrical stimulator. A third investigator injected intravenously saline or naloxone. The subjects and investigators 1 and 3 were blind to all treatment conditions. A repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant difference among the four groups. The AES groups exhibited a statistically significant 18% elevation of pain threshold, whereas the two placebo stimulation groups (PS and PN) remained essentially unchanged. The mean pain threshold increased to more than 23% for group AS, but fell to less than 12% for the subjects in group AN, who were given naloxone. These findings indicate a small but significant elevation of pain threshold by AES, an effect partially blocked by naloxone, suggesting an endogenous opioid system as one mechanism for AES analgesia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orofacial Pain and Occlusion, UCLA School of Dentistry.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Oleson
mesh_terms: D015667:Acupuncture Analgesia; D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D003791:Dental Pulp Test; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004431:Ear, External / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009270:Naloxone / Q000494:pharmacology; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000187:drug effects; D014098:Toothache / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D009270:Naloxone