title: Assessment of periodontal mechano-nociceptive function in healthy Chinese individuals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Few clinical techniques are available for the description of mechano-nociceptive function in human periodontal tissues. The objective of this study was to test a new technique for assessment of periodontal mechano-nociceptive function by direct application of controlled forces to the teeth and quantify site, side and gender differences in healthy individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty healthy young adults (ten males and ten females) participated. A handheld pressure algometer was used to assess pressure pain threshold (PPT) on the maxillary and mandibular central incisors, canines and first premolars on the left and the right side from two directions: lateral and vertical. Statistical analysis was performed using analyses of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures to compare data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant gender differences of PPT for both lateral (Plateral=0.007) and vertical (Pvertical=0.001) directions with lower thresholds in females (higher sensitivity) than in males. A significant site effect (Plateral=0.002, Pvertical<0.001) was observed with less sensitivity at the first premolar compared to the anterior teeth. No significant right-to-left side differences (P=0.082) were found for the PPTs. There were significant PPT differences between maxillary and mandibular teeth (Plateral=0.020, Pvertical=0.041,) and significant differences between lateral and vertical direction (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The novel application of PPTs directly to the teeth indicated an adequate and practical method with potential value for clinical assessment of painful conditions affecting the periodontal ligament.
authors.affiliation: Orofacial Pain & TMD Research Unit, Institute of Stomatology, Department of Polyclinic, Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Orofacial Pain & TMD Research Unit, Institute of Stomatology, Department of Polyclinic, Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Orofacial Pain & TMD Research Unit, Institute of Stomatology, Department of Polyclinic, Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University; Department of Polyclinic, Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: zhjllym@njmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jinglu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Orofacial Pain & TMD Research Unit, Institute of Stomatology, Department of Polyclinic, Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Linfeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Orofacial Pain & TMD Research Unit, Institute of Stomatology, Department of Polyclinic, Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Orofacial Pain & TMD Research Unit, Institute of Stomatology, Department of Polyclinic, Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China; Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction (SMI), Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kelun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Section of Orofacial Pain and Jaw Function, School of Dentistry, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden; Scandinavian Center for Orofacial Neurosciences (SCON), Sweden.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Svensson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D059225:Nociception / Q000502:physiology*; D010513:Periodontal Ligament / Q000502:physiology*; D011312:Pressure; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
keywords: Gender difference; Human; Orofacial pain; Periodontology; Pressure pain threshold; Tooth