Department of Craniofacial Growth and Developmental Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental College, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
J Dent Res. 2012 Aug;91(8):759-63. doi: 10.1177/0022034512450880. Epub 2012 Jun 8.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensation of each tooth type at the cortical level. The tactical sensation from teeth plays an important role in controlling the masticatory system. However, the role of each tooth type has not been determined. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to detect changes in cerebral blood flow in the somatosensory cortex of 12 healthy volunteers. Painless vibrotactile stimuli were applied to 8 teeth (left maxillary and mandibular incisors, canines, 1(st) premolars, or 1(st) molars). The somatosensory cortex was activated during stimulation of all teeth. A comparison of cortical activation revealed significantly greater activation during stimulation of the maxillary and mandibular first molars. However, no significant differences were seen between any other teeth. These results indicate that the first molar is the most sensitive tooth type at the cortical level, and provide basic data on the relationship between input from individual tooth type and brain activation. These data could be useful for understanding the neural mechanisms of individual tooth types.
本研究旨在评估皮质水平上每种牙齿类型的感觉。牙齿的感觉在控制咀嚼系统方面起着重要作用。然而，每种牙齿类型的作用尚未确定。本研究使用功能性近红外光谱 (fNIRS) 检测 12 名健康志愿者体感皮层中脑血流的变化。无痛振动触觉刺激施加于 8 颗牙齿（左上颌和下颌切牙、尖牙、第一前磨牙或第一磨牙）。在所有牙齿刺激时，体感皮层被激活。皮层激活的比较显示，上颌和下颌第一磨牙刺激时的激活明显更大。然而，在任何其他牙齿之间都没有观察到显著差异。这些结果表明，在皮质水平上，第一磨牙是最敏感的牙齿类型，并提供了关于个体牙齿类型输入与大脑激活之间关系的基本数据。这些数据可能有助于理解个体牙齿类型的神经机制。
