Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Oral Sciences, Section of Orthodontics and Temporomandibular Disorders, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Department of Pediatric Oral Health and Orthodontics, UZB, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
J Oral Rehabil. 2024 Nov;51(11):2452-2459. doi: 10.1111/joor.13828. Epub 2024 Aug 29.
Tactile acuity is a somatosensory measure of the extent to which humans can discern tactile stimuli. It is influenced by how peripheral signals are processed centrally. In the oral cavity, Occlusal Tactile Acuity (OTA) is the ability to perceive minimal thicknesses between antagonist teeth. The aim of the current study was to assess the association between psychological traits and OTA of otherwise healthy individuals.
Sixty-three volunteers (32 males; mean age ± SD: 24.6 ± 2.7 years) participated in this study. Somatosensory amplification, anxiety, depression, physical symptoms and pain catastrophizing were scored using questionnaires, and subgroups of severity were created per variable based on cut-offs. OTA was measured using 9 aluminium foils with thickness (ranging from 8 to 72 μm) and one sham test (without foil). Each thickness was tested 10 times in random order, the participants were instructed to report whether they felt the foil between their molars and the mean percentage of correct answers was computed. A linear mixed model was used with OTA as a dependent variable and psychological domain as an independent variable.
Significantly different OTA was observed among the anxiety subgroups (p = .003), supporting a decreased perception of thicknesses 24 and 32 μm (p = .018 and p < .001, respectively) in participants with moderate/severe anxiety compared to those with no/mild anxiety. Significantly different OTA was also observed among the pain catastrophizing subgroups (p = .008), showing decreased perception of thicknesses 32 and 40 μm (p < .001 and p = .007, respectively) in severe catastrophizing levels, compared to no/mild catastrophizing levels. No significant differences were observed for the other variables.
Healthy adults with increased anxiety or pain catastrophizing levels show decreased interdental acuity as compared to participants with minor or no psychological impairment.
触觉敏锐度是一种衡量人类辨别触觉刺激程度的躯体感觉测量方法。它受到外周信号在中枢的处理方式的影响。在口腔中，咬合触觉敏锐度（OTA）是感知上下颌牙齿之间最小厚度的能力。本研究的目的是评估健康个体的心理特征与 OTA 之间的相关性。
63 名志愿者（男性 32 名；平均年龄±标准差：24.6±2.7 岁）参与了这项研究。使用问卷评估感觉放大、焦虑、抑郁、躯体症状和疼痛灾难化，根据每个变量的截断值创建严重程度亚组。使用 9 个厚度（从 8 到 72μm）的铝箔和一个假测试（无箔）测量 OTA。每种厚度以随机顺序测试 10 次，要求参与者报告他们是否感觉到磨牙之间有箔片，计算出正确回答的平均百分比。将 OTA 作为因变量，心理领域作为自变量，使用线性混合模型进行分析。
在焦虑亚组中观察到明显不同的 OTA（p=0.003），中度/重度焦虑的参与者对厚度为 24μm 和 32μm 的箔片感知能力下降（p=0.018 和 p<0.001），而无/轻度焦虑的参与者感知能力正常。在疼痛灾难化亚组中也观察到明显不同的 OTA（p=0.008），严重灾难化水平的参与者对厚度为 32μm 和 40μm 的箔片感知能力下降（p<0.001 和 p=0.007），而无/轻度灾难化水平的参与者感知能力正常。对于其他变量，未观察到显著差异。
与轻度或无心理障碍的参与者相比，焦虑或疼痛灾难化水平较高的健康成年人的牙间敏锐度下降。
