HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Appendix Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhang, W. Articles by Morimoto, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zhang, W. Articles by Morimoto, T.

An Involvement of Trigeminal Mesencephalic Neurons in Regulation of Occlusal Vertical Dimension in the Guinea Pig

¹ Department of Oral Physiology,
² Department of Fixed Prothodontics,
³ Department of Oral Anatomy,
⁴ Department of Removal Prothodontics,
⁵ Department of Orthodontics, and
⁶ Department of Oral Radiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, 1-8, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan;
⁷ Department of Oral Physiology, Comprehensive Dental Research Laboratory, Matsumoto Dental University, Shiojiri, Nagano 399-0781, Japan;

*corresponding author, masayuki{at}dent.osaka-u.ac.jp

Although the occlusal vertical dimension (OVD) is strictly controlled, the neuronal mechanism of its regulation is still unclear. We hypothesize that neurons in the trigeminal mesencephalic nucleus (MesV) play an important role in the regulation of the OVD, because the MesV receives the projection from jaw-closing muscle spindles and periodontal mechanoreceptors. We measured the temporal OVD change in the guinea pig to study the effects of MesV lesions on the OVD. OVD-raised animals without MesV lesions showed a rapid OVD decrease to the same level as that in naïve controls, followed by an OVD increase after the OVD-raising appliance was removed. In contrast, OVD-raised animals with MesV lesions showed only a slight decrease in the OVD for 15 days after removal of the appliance, and then the OVD increased. The time-course of OVD development in normal-bite animals with MesV lesions was similar to that of naïve controls. These results suggest that MesV neurons are involved in OVD regulation.

KEY WORDS: muscle spindle • periodontal receptor • vertical dimension • trigeminal mesencephalic nucleus • deafferentation

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. Yabushita, J.L. Zeredo, K. Fujita, K. Toda, and K. Soma Functional Adaptability of Jaw-muscle Spindles after Bite-raising J. Dent. Res., September 1, 2006; 85(9): 849 - 853. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Yabushita, J.L. Zeredo, K. Toda, and K. Soma Role of Occlusal Vertical Dimension in Spindle Function J. Dent. Res., March 1, 2005; 84(3): 245 - 249. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]