Journal of oral rehabilitation
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Review
Headaches and myofascial temporomandibular disorders: overlapping entities, separate managements?
There are relevant clinical overlaps between some of the painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and headache conditions that may hamper the diagnostic process and treatment. A non-systematic search for studies on the relationship between TMD and headaches was carried out in the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase. Important pain mechanisms contributing to the close association and complex relationship between TMD and headache disorders are as follows: processes of peripheral and central sensitisation which take place in similar anatomical areas, the possible impairment of the descending modulatory pain pathways and the processes of referred pain. ⋯ These concerns are certainly reflected in the current classification systems of both TMD and headache where the clinical consequences of diagnosis such as headache attributed to or associated with TMD are uncertain. There are several similarities in terms of therapeutic strategies used to manage myofascial TMD and headaches. Considering all these possible levels of interaction, we reinforce the recommendation for multidisciplinary approaches, by a team of oro-facial pain specialists and a neurologist (headache specialist), to attain the most precise differential diagnosis and initiate the best and most efficient treatment.
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Clinical Trial
Bilateral sensory deprivation of trigeminal afferent fibres on corticomotor control of human tongue musculature: a preliminary study.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has demonstrated changes in motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in human limb muscles following modulation of sensory afferent inputs. The aim of this study was to determine whether bilateral local anaesthesia (LA) of the lingual nerve affects the excitability of the tongue motor cortex (MI) as measured by TMS. The effect on MEPs after bilateral LA of the lingual nerve was studied, while the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle served as a control in ten healthy participants. ⋯ The amplitudes of the tongue MEPs were significantly influenced by the stimulus intensity (P < 0·001) but not by condition (P = 0·186). However, post hoc tests showed that MEPS were statistically significantly higher during bilateral LA block condition compared with baseline at T + 40%, T + 50% and T + 60% (P < 0·028) and also compared with recovery at T + 60% (P = 0·010) as well as at 3 h after injection at T + 50% and T + 60% (P < 0·029). Bilateral LA block of the lingual nerve seems to be associated with a facilitation of the corticomotor pathways related to the tongue musculature.