IADR Abstract Archives
Effects of Pain After Orthodontic Separator Placement on Occlusal Tactile Acuity
Objectives: Occlusal tactile acuity (OTA) is the ability to detect small thicknesses between antagonist teeth. Pain in the jaw joint and muscles affects OTA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of pain after orthodontic separator placement on OTA in a group of healthy volunteers.
Methods: OTA was measured using nine aluminum foils (range 8-72μm) and one sham test (no foil). Each foil and the sham test were randomly tested 10 times. The foils were placed in the molar area, and participants were asked to close their mouth gently and to refer if they felt them. Immediately after the OTA measurement (T0), two orthodontic separators were placed between tooth 1.6 and the adjacent teeth. Afterward, the participants were assigned to one of two groups: PAIN group (18 men, 14 women; mean age 25.2±2.3 years) having the orthodontic separators removed after 24 hours; and NO-PAIN group (14 men, 17 women; mean age 24.0±3.1 years) having the orthodontic separators removed after 6 days. Immediately after the removal of the orthodontic separators, the OTA measurement was repeated (T1). At T0 and at T1, the percentage of correct answers was calculated for each testing thickness. The difference between the mean percentage of correct answers (T1 vs. T0) was calculated with a Student t-test for paired data, adjusted with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Significance level was set at p<0.005.
Results: A significant reduction of OTA was found in the PAIN group for the foils 24µm (p=0.004) and 32µm (p=0.001). OTA was unchanged in the NO-PAIN group (all p>0.005).
Conclusions: During pain due to orthodontic separator placement, OTA tends to be disturbed. However, when the periodontal ligament is stretched by the separator but the acute pain is ceased, OTA returns to baseline values.
Methods: OTA was measured using nine aluminum foils (range 8-72μm) and one sham test (no foil). Each foil and the sham test were randomly tested 10 times. The foils were placed in the molar area, and participants were asked to close their mouth gently and to refer if they felt them. Immediately after the OTA measurement (T0), two orthodontic separators were placed between tooth 1.6 and the adjacent teeth. Afterward, the participants were assigned to one of two groups: PAIN group (18 men, 14 women; mean age 25.2±2.3 years) having the orthodontic separators removed after 24 hours; and NO-PAIN group (14 men, 17 women; mean age 24.0±3.1 years) having the orthodontic separators removed after 6 days. Immediately after the removal of the orthodontic separators, the OTA measurement was repeated (T1). At T0 and at T1, the percentage of correct answers was calculated for each testing thickness. The difference between the mean percentage of correct answers (T1 vs. T0) was calculated with a Student t-test for paired data, adjusted with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Significance level was set at p<0.005.
Results: A significant reduction of OTA was found in the PAIN group for the foils 24µm (p=0.004) and 32µm (p=0.001). OTA was unchanged in the NO-PAIN group (all p>0.005).
Conclusions: During pain due to orthodontic separator placement, OTA tends to be disturbed. However, when the periodontal ligament is stretched by the separator but the acute pain is ceased, OTA returns to baseline values.
