UNLABELLED Papers in this issue investigate when and how putative risk factors influence development of first-onset, painful temporomandibular disorder (TMD). The results represent first findings from the Orofacial Pain: Prospective Evaluation and Risk Assessment (OPPERA) prospective cohort study that monitored 2,737 men and women aged 18 to 44 years recruited at 4 U.S. study sites. During a me...

BACKGROUND Orofacial inflammatory pain is likely to accompany referred pain in uninflamed orofacial structures. The ectopic pain precludes precise diagnosis and makes treatment problematic, because the underlying mechanism is not well understood. Using the established ectopic orofacial pain model induced by complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) injection into trapezius muscle, we analyzed the possib...

Whisking and sniffing are predominant aspects of exploratory behavior in rodents. We review evidence that these motor rhythms are coordinated by the respiratory patterning circuitry in the ventral medulla. A recently described region in the intermediate reticular zone of the medulla functions as an autonomous whisking oscillator, whose neuronal output is reset upon each breath by input from the...

Orofacial pain is a prevalent symptom in modern society. Some musculoskeletal orofacial pain is caused by temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). This condition has a multi-factorial etiology, including emotional factors and alteration of the masticator muscle and temporomandibular joints (TMJs). TMJ inflammation is considered to be a cause of pain in patients with TMD. Extracellular proteolytic en...

Folic acid and the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene have both been implicated in the etiology of orofacial clefts. The authors selected 261 case-parent triads (173 cases with cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) and 88 cases with cleft palate only (CPO)) from a Norwegian population-based study of orofacial clefts (May 1996-1998). A case-parent triad design was used to e...

Uke most other specialty areas, orthodontics has a rich professional literature containing disagreement and debate on a number of topics. One area of controversy since the inception of orthodontics in the late 1800s is the relationship between tongue functions and the development of malocclusions. Many orthodontists continue to believe strongly that tongue functions cause certain types of maloc...

Nevet, Alon, Genela Morris, Guy Saban, Nina Fainstein, and Hagai Bergman. Discharge rate of substantia nigra pars reticulata neurons is reduced in non-parkinsonian monkeys with apomorphineinduced orofacial dyskinesia. J Neurophysiol 92: 1973–1981, 2004. First published April 28, 2004; 10.1152/jn.01036.2003. Involuntary movements (dyskinesia) are a common symptom of dopamine-replacement therapy ...

Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth have been identified as a new post-natal stem cell population with multipotential differentiation capabilities, including regeneration of mineralized tissues in vivo. To examine the efficacy of utilizing these stem cells in regenerating orofacial bone defects, we isolated stem cells from miniature pig deciduous teeth and engrafted the critical-si...

Dr Dermot Canavan BDentSc, MGDS (Edin), MS U Calif 69 Eglinton Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Tel: 01 2694022 Fax: 01 2694004 Introduction Orofacial pain is an important issue for both patients and clinicians alike. Pain within the oral cavity is most frequently dental in origin (odontogenic) and extra-orally the most common source of pain is musculoskeletal (TMD). Once these conditions have been e...

Disorders involving the orofacial area represent a major medical and social problem. They are a consequence of central nociceptive processes associated with stimulation of the trigeminal nerve nucleus. A rat model of trigeminal pain, utilizing tongue jerks evoked by electrical tooth pulp stimulation during perfusion of the cerebral ventricles with various neuropeptide solutions, can be used in ...