J Orofac Pain
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To explore the impact of trigeminal nerve injuries on quality of life, including the effect of pain on psychological and affective function. ⋯ Traumatic injury to the trigeminal nerve is associated with a substantial patient burden, particularly in patients who experience severe neuropathic pain as part of their condition. These findings highlight the need to identify, develop, and evaluate more effective treatments for neuropathic pain in trigeminal nerve injury that will not only provide clinically meaningful reductions in pain but also improve patients' quality of life.
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Development of a quality-assessment tool for experimental bruxism studies: reliability and validity.
To combine empirical evidence and expert opinion in a formal consensus method in order to develop a quality-assessment tool for experimental bruxism studies in systematic reviews. ⋯ Qu-ATEBS, the seven-item evidence-based quality assessment tool developed here for use in systematic reviews of experimental bruxism studies, exhibits face validity, excellent discriminative validity, and acceptable inter-observer reliability. Development of quality assessment tools for many other topics in the orofacial pain literature is needed and may follow the described procedure.
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To investigate thermal thresholds of selected orofacial sites, determine if there is a relationship between thermal thresholds at each site, and analyze the influence of two different baseline temperatures on thermal thresholds at the tongue tip. ⋯ Thermal thresholds varied between the orofacial test sites, and baseline temperature affected thermal sensitivity of the tongue. Subjects who were relatively sensitive to cold tended to be more sensitive to heat.
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Comparative Study
Neuromuscular interaction of jaw and neck muscles during jaw clenching.
To test the hypothesis that jaw muscles and specific neck muscles, ie, levator scapulae, trapezius, sternocleidomastoideus, and splenius capitis, co-contract at the different submaximum bite forces usually generated during jaw clenching and tooth grinding, and for different bite force directions. ⋯ The findings support the assumption of a relationship between jaw clenching and the neck muscle activity investigated. The low level of co-contraction activity, however, requires further study to elucidate possible pathophysiological interactions at the level of single motor units.
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To investigate the hypothesis that the presence of transient morning masticatory muscle pain in young, healthy sleep bruxers (SBr) is associated with sex-related differences in sleep electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. ⋯ Female SBr had lower theta and alpha EEG activity irrespective of transient morning pain.