title: Pressure-pain threshold determination in the oral mucosa: validity and reliability.
abstract: Fundamental knowledge of pain in the oral mucosa is lacking. We determined the validity and reliability of the pressure-pain threshold (PPT) measurement in the oral mucosa using a newly developed hand-held pressure algometer. Ten dentulous subjects were recruited, and the PPT was measured at the bilateral buccal (on the attached gingiva apical to the midline of the upper first premolars, 3 mm from the mucogingival junction) and the palatal sites (mid-point between the bilateral upper first molars). The PPT linearly increased with an increase in load-rate (P < 0.0001). The PPT yielded a high intra-individual stability both for the same-day consecutive trials and weekly sessions. The palatal site revealed a 4- to 4.65-fold greater PPT than the buccal sites (Bonferroni, P < 0.0001), whereas no difference was found between the bilateral buccal sites (P=0.663). Despite a great interindividual variation in the PPT, significant intra-individual correlations were found among the measurement sites. This suggested differences in individual sensitivity to pain in the oral mucosa, which may determine overall pain sensation specific to an individual. A pressure algometer described herein reliably assessed the PPT in the oral mucosa and sensitively discriminated PPT differences at different sites and at different load-rates, suggesting the reliability and validity of PPT measurements in the oral mucosa for clinical and research investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Removable Prosthodontics, Kyushu University Faculty of Dentistry, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogimoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sumiyoshi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koyano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001641:Bicuspid; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005881:Gingiva / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008963:Molar; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000502:physiology*; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D010159:Palate / Q000502:physiology; D011312:Pressure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013997:Time Factors; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D014159:Transducers; D016474:Weight-Bearing