Oral Somatosensory Perception in Skeletal Anterior Open Bite Malocclusion.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate oral and manual somatosensory perception in skeletal anterior open bite (SAOB) subjects. Methods: 14 adults with SAOB were tested for oral and manual stereognostic ability using stimuli of varying shape, texture and density. A custom device was used for two point discrimination (TPD) testing. Skeletal Class I subjects with normal overbite served as controls. Time taken and accuracy of identification were noted for stereognosis tests (ST) and distance for TPD. Mann Whitney U tested for differences in the two groups. Spearman's rank correlation was used for association between variables. Results: Response time for oral ST ranged from 2seconds to 60seconds in SAOB subjects and 2 seconds to 37seconds in control group. Response time for manual ST ranged from 2seconds to 40.4 seconds in SAOB subjects and 2seconds to 24seconds in control group. Mann Whitney showed the difference was not statistically significant (p≤0.05) between groups in both manual and oral ST. Spearman's correlation test showed no correlation between response time and extent of open bite. Frequency of incorrect responses for ST was greater in SAOB. Minimal errors were noted in identification of texture and maximum for identification of cross shape in ST. TPD ranged from 1mm to 5 mm at different sites. Conclusions: Impairment in oral sterognostic ability is noted in subjects with SAOB though no association is seen between the severity of SAOB and sterognostic ability. Complexity of test shape was found to have the greatest influence on sensory perception regardless of the presence of SAOB in both manual and oral sensory tests.Copy Right, IJAR, 2017,. All rights reserved.