Clinically Available Assessment Measures for Lingual and Labial Somatosensation in Healthy Adults: Normative Data and Test Reliability.

PURPOSE

High-quality orofacial somatosensory inputs are essential for achieving rapid and accurate motor outputs. Little somatosensory testing is currently being completed in clinical settings. The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility and test-retest reliability of clinical assessment tools for orofacial somatosensory testing in healthy young adults.

METHOD

A total of 45 healthy young adults (ages 20-41 years) was recruited. Participants reported basic health information, completed pure-tone hearing thresholds, and were assessed using two-point discrimination discs and Von Frey hair detection and discrimination thresholds for bilateral lip and tongue. A subsample of participants (n = 18; 40%) returned to complete reliability testing.

RESULTS

Descriptive results are presented for the normative group as well as the reliability group. Difference scores between Tests 1 and 2 for each testing measure and location show high agreement.

CONCLUSION

Two-point discrimination and Von Frey hair monofilament assessment for both detection- and discrimination-threshold estimates have high test-retest reliability in a healthy young population. These testing measures could be a way to easily complete objective somatosensory testing of the orofacial region in a clinical context.