Contribution of Periodontal Receptors to the Masseteric Silent Period

¹ School of Dentistry and Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214

Quadrant local anesthesia was sequentially administered to the maxillary and mandibular teeth and periodontium in three healthy individuals. After anesthesia the duration of the silent period was shortened. Total anesthesia of all quadrants abolished the silent period in every individual, demonstrating that sensory impulses from periodontal receptors provide a major source of inhibition, and disfacilitation or active inhibition from intact muscle receptors is insufficient to produce a silent period.