title: The development of a diagnostic instrument for the measurement of mechanical allodynia.
abstract: Mechanical allodynia, defined as a reduction in mechanical pain threshold, is an essential diagnostic feature of inflammation of the periodontal ligament. Traditional methods for measuring mechanical allodynia in a tooth are not quantitative. This study evaluated the reliability of a new bite force transducer to measure mechanical pain thresholds, which might have application as a quantitative diagnostic aid for measuring mechanical allodynia in patients with apical periodontitis. To determine inter-observer reliability, subjects (n = 40) were given standardized instructions before generating maximal bite force on maxillary first molars; readings were then recorded by three examiners for a total of ten readings per examiner. To determine the test-retest reliability, the initial examiner then retested at two different sessions. The intraclass correlation coefficient was fair to substantial for inter-observer reliability (0.3-0.64) and substantial for intra-observer reliability (0.63-0.68). Thus, the force transducer used in our study is a reliable method to measure mechanical pain thresholds in endodontic patients.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Department of Endodontics, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA. khana2@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: Asma A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Bryce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McCreary
authors.forename: Christopher B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Owatz
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Schindler
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Keiser
authors.forename: Kenneth M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Hargreaves
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001732:Bite Force; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017288:Pain Threshold; D010513:Periodontal Ligament / Q000502:physiology; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000503:physiopathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014098:Toothache / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014160:Transducers, Pressure