Study of mandibular buccal gingival mucosa pain sensitivity

Through a pain study of buccal gingival mucosa sensitivity of the mandible, the corresponding sensitive area of pain was determined, which provided the basis for reducing the pain and discomfort of oral diagnosis and treatment.

400 patients with mandibular tooth extraction in the outpatient department of stomatology were selected. During tooth extraction, articaine epinephrine injection was used for infiltration anesthesia. The injection needle size was 0.3 mm × 21 mm, and the injection site was about 5 mm away from the buccal gingival margin. The pain degree of the patients was recorded. The data were statistically analyzed using the modified International pain classification method.

Among the 400 patients who underwent mandible extraction, 75% (300 patients) graded their pain from painless to moderate, and 25% (100 patients) reported moderate to severe and severe pain. Of those in the moderate to severe and severe groups, 50% and 42% reported pain in the central and lateral incisors, respectively, and 38% were in the canine group. When comparing the moderate to severe and the severe groups, 16% and 10% were in the bicuspid group, 16% and 12% and 16% were in the molar group, respectively. There were significant differences in the pain sensitivity of different teeth positions (χ²＝54.203, P < 0.001). The proportion of moderate to severe and severe pain in the anterior teeth group was higher than it was in the posterior teeth group (χ²＝55.555, P < 0.001). There were significant differences in the pain sensitivity of different ages (χ²＝96.501, P＝0.000), and there was a positive correlation between pain and age (r＝0.465, P < 0.001). The proportion of women with at least a moderate degree of pain was higher than that of men (χ² = 12.298, P＝0.031).

The sensitivity of the buccal gingival mucosa to pain is different in different positions of the mandible. The sensitivity of the anterior gingiva is higher than that of the posterior gingiva. Age is positively correlated with the degree of pain. Further, compared with men, women are more sensitive to pain.