Lene Baad-Hansen

• DDS, PhD, Dr. Odont.
• Professor (Full) at Aarhus University

Background Despite advances in medicine and technology, pain remains a significant global burden. Improving pain education for undergraduate healthcare students is considered an important step toward enhancing pain management. The Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) is commonly used to assess pain knowledge in healthcare students, but its v...

Background Large population‐based estimates of the prevalence of painful temporomandibular disorders (p‐TMD) utilising standardised screening tools are scarce and have not investigated the prevalence of overlapping primary headaches. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of p‐TMD in a large population of young adults (18 to 23 years) and to estimate...

Objective To investigate the association between adolescents’ dietary quality and the presence of painful temporomandibular disorder (p‐TMD) and headaches in young adulthood. Background P‐TMD is a common orofacial pain condition often associated with headaches and discomfort. Some studies have shown that dietary behaviors can impact chronic muscul...

Aim To evaluate conditioned pain modulation (CPM) in burning mouth syndrome (BMS) patients with different pain mechanisms. Materials and Methods Twenty BMS patients (52.0 ± 6.8 years, 17 women and 3 men) and age‐ and gender‐matched 22 healthy controls were enrolled in this randomised controlled trial. The patients received an active lingual nerve...

Aims To investigate the effect of a lingual nerve block on spontaneous pain in patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and to estimate associated somatosensory abnormalities by quantitative sensory testing (QST). Protocol and Methods A standardised QST battery including cold detection threshold (CDT), warmth detection threshold (WDT), thermal s...

Objective: To present a list of key points for good Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs) clinical practice on behalf of the International Network for Orofacial Pain and Related Disorders Methodology (INfORM) group of the International Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research (IADR). Methods: An open working group discussion was held...

Milk has a soothing effect on the capsaicin‐induced burning sensation in the mouth. This double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over study aimed to investigate if milk proteins could relieve the capsaicin‐induced burning sensation. During each session, the tongue of each participant was exposed to capsaicin twice for 8 min in total. Subsequently...

Hovedbudskap Burning mouth syndrome är ett primärt orofacialt smärttillstånd utan kliniskt identifierbara etiologiska faktorer. Burning mouth syndrome kännetecknas av en brännande dysestetisk känsla eller smärta i munslemhinnan. Trots symptomen ser munslemhinnan kliniskt frisk ut. Ångest och depression är vanligt förekommande tillstånd hos patiente...

Background Qualitative sensory testing (QualST) is a simple, standardised, chairside method for evaluating somatosensory function; however, testing focuses on detection of cold, touch and pain with no recognition of perceptions of pleasantness and unpleasantness. Objectives The study aimed to utilise the stimuli in QualST, with the addition of a s...

Heilkenni munnsviða (burning mouth syndrome, BMS) er kvilli sem lýsir sér með óeðlilegri brunatilfinningu í munni (sviða) eða sársauka sem er til staðar lengur en í 2 klukkustundir daglega í yfir 3 mánuði. Algengast er að þessi sviði komi fram á tungu en hann getur einnig komið fram á öðrum svæðum munnhols. Heilkenni munnsviða er frumástand sem gre...

Background Despite advances in temporomandibular disorders' (TMDs) diagnosis, the diagnostic process continues to be problematic in non‐specialist settings. Objective To complete a Delphi process to shorten the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD) to a brief DC/TMD (bDC/TMD) for expedient clinical diagnosis and initial management. Methods An inte...

Background Orofacial function is believed to influence an individual's diet. knowledge on appetite and enjoyment of eating in orofacially impaired individuals is scarce. Objective We aimed to explore potential associations between impaired orofacial function, that is, orofacial pain, jaw function limitation and xerostomia, respectively, and diet,...

Background The diagnosis of chronic primary pain (CPP), according to the recently released International Classification of Disease (ICD‐11) criteria, refers to conditions with complex aetiologies. CPP is characterized by specific clinical features such as generalized sensory hypersensitivity and widespread pain, and is associated with functional di...

Background Despite advances in Temporomandibular disorders’ (TMDs) diagnosis, the diagnostic process continues to be problematic in non-specialist settings. Objective To complete a Delphi process to shorten the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD) to a brief DC/TMD (bDC/TMD) for the diagnoses with the most utility in general dentistry settings. M...

Background: Primary headache syndromes such as migraine are among the most common neurological syndromes. Chronic facial pain syndromes of non-odontogenic cause are less well known to neurologists despite being highly disabling. Given the pain localization, these patients often consult dentists first who may conduct unnecessary dental intervention...

Background and Aims The nocebo response refers to the phenomenon where nonspecific factors, including negative verbal suggestion and treatment expectations, cause adverse events (AE) following the placebo treatment. Nonspecific factors are also likely to influence AE occurrence following the active pharmacological treatments. This meta-analysis aim...

Background: The nocebo response refers to the phenomenon where nonspecific factors, including negative verbal suggestion and treatment expectations, cause adverse events (AE) following a placebo treatment. Nonspecific factors are also likely to influence AE occurrence following administration of active pharmacological treatments. Objective: This...

Capsaicin-induced burning sensation in the oral mucosa can be relieved by skimmed and whole milk. The mechanism behind this effect, however, is unknown. This study aimed to asses the role of milk proteins in reducing capsaicin-induced oral burning sensation. 24 healthy participants was included in this single-blinded cross-over study consisting of...

Introduction and Aim: Neuropathic pain in the orofacial region often requires special attention and an early diagnosis because this type of pain can lead to debilitating effects on the patient’s quality of life and activities of daily living. Quantitative sensory testing (QST) is one of the examinations that can help the physician in the diagnosis...

This chapter first highlights the peripheral and central neurobiological mechanisms underlying orofacial pain and then outlines the clinical features of some of the most common or perplexing chronic orofacial pain conditions. Injury or inflammation of peripheral tissues, including nerves, may also lead to phenotypic changes, sprouting or abnormal d...

Background: Evidence for the nocebo effect, a phenomenon characterised by suboptimal treatment efficacy, worsening of symptoms, or the occurrence of adverse events caused by an individual's negative treatment expectations, is growing across a multitude of medical fields. However, little attention has been paid to patients' negative expectations an...

The most common reason for pain in the orofacial region originates from the dentoalveolar and associated structures. However, when pain does not fit into this category it is important to evaluate the associated structures of the head and neck. This can mean that referral to the relevant discipline is required, when outside the remit of the investig...

Trigeminal neuralgia and other cranial neuralgias comprise a group of facial pain conditions, characterized by disabling pain attacks that selectively respond to specific treatments. Although not as common as migraine they affect over 1% of the population. The spectrum of cranial neuralgias is wide and as a consequence, the conditions are managed b...

Background: Slow stroking touch is generally perceived as pleasant and reduces thermal pain. However, the tactile stimuli applied tend to be short-lasting and typically applied to the forearm. This study aimed to compare the effects of a long-lasting brushing stimulus applied to the facial region and the forearm on pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) t...

The individual inclination to lead an autonomous life until death is associated with requirements that may be of physiological, psychosocial, and environmental nature. We aim to describe a conceptual Orofacial Health Model with emphasis on orofacial function, taking the domains of quality of life and patient-centered values into account. In the con...

Background: Bruxism may involve bracing and thrusting of the mandible, in addition to clenching or grinding of the teeth. It is unclear how bracing and thrusting may contribute to potential musculoskeletal symptoms associated with bruxism. Objective: To examine the effect of experimental bracing and thrusting of the mandible on the development o...

Pleasantness is generally overlooked when investigating tactile functions. Addition of a pleasant stimulus could allow for a more complete characterisation of somatosensory function. The aims of this review were to systematically assess the methodologies used to elicit a pleasant sensation, measured via psychophysical techniques, and to perform a m...

Objective To assess the correlation between the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI) scores and the results of psychophysical tests and psychosocial questionnaires according to the presence of painful temporomandibular disorder (TMD). Design It was a cross-sectional study involving 146 participants, aged 20 to 65 years. Painful TMD was classified...

Pain is a common symptom in endodontic conditions, but differential diagnostic procedures are often needed to exclude other pain origins. General dentists and endodontists thus need to be aware of alternative painful orofacial conditions, and be able to identify them. The new International Classification of Orofacial Pain (ICOP, 2020) is the first...

Featured Application The potential application of the work is in the area of acupuncture therapy. The study focuses on the nanostructured surfaces to stimulate connective tissue interaction at the neurological sites for pain therapy. Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the biomaterial properties of nano-modified surface acupunctur...

Background Quantitative sensory testing protocols for perceptions of pleasantness and unpleasantness based on the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain protocol were recently introduced. However, there are no reliability studies yet published. Aim To evaluate the intra-examiner (test-retest) and inter-examiner reliability for orofacial pleas...

Background and objective: Orofacial quantitative sensory testing (QST) is an increasingly valuable psychophysical tool for evaluating neurosensory disorders of the orofacial region. Here, we aimed to evaluate the current evidence regarding this testing method and to discuss its future clinical potential. Data treatment: We conducted a literature se...

Objectives: The present study assessed somatosensory changes related to trigeminal nerve damage using extensive evaluation tools and assessed the effect of such damage on the patients' psychosocial status and quality of life compared to healthy participants. Methods: In 37 patients with intraorally or extraorally presenting trigeminal nerve dama...

Background: Knowledge of pain modulation from orofacial somatosensory stimuli with different valence (pleasant-unpleasant) is limited. Objectives: To investigate: (1) The modulatory effects of painful, pleasant and unpleasant somatosensory stimuli on 2 models of experimental facial pain, (2) If modulation could be changed by blocking peripheral...

Objectives The “nociceptive-specific” blink reflex (nBR) evoked by extraoral stimulation has been used to assess trigeminal nociceptive processing in patients with trigeminal nerve damage regardless of the site of damage. This study aimed to test the feasibility of nBR elicited by intraoral stimulation, compare intraoral and extraoral nBR and asses...

Aims: To assess the pain and/or unpleasantness and the somatosensory changes caused by two experimental models of trigeminal nerve damage (topical application of capsaicin and local anesthetics) in healthy participants using extensive evaluation tools. Methods: This double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study included 20 heal...

Background: Changes in quantitative sensory testing (QST) parameters following topical anesthesia could contribute to better elucidate underlying mechanisms of somatosensory alterations in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain patients. This placebo-controlled crossover investigation compared the somatosensory profile following topical anesthesia...

As yet, there are still no evidence‐based clinical diagnostic and management guidelines for ambulatory single‐channel EMG devices, like the BUTLER® GrindCare® (GrindCare), that are used in patients with sleep bruxism. Therefore, a consensus meeting was organized with GrindCare developers, researchers, and academic and non‐academic clinicians experi...

Aims: To compare somatosensory function profiles and psychologic factors in patients with primary burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and healthy controls and to evaluate correlations of subjective pain ratings with somatosensory and psychologic parameters. Methods: A quantitative sensory testing (QST) protocol-including cold detection threshold (CDT),...

Aims: To investigate whether an international consensus exists among TMD experts regarding indications, performance, follow-up, and effectiveness of jaw exercises. Methods: A questionnaire with 31 statements regarding jaw exercises was constructed. Fourteen international experts with some geographic dispersion were asked to participate in this D...

Objectives The aims were to use different techniques to assess the degree of sensory changes and magnitude of perceived size changes in the facial region induced by nerve blocks of two different trigeminal nerve branches in healthy participants. Materials and methods This placebo-controlled study included 30 healthy volunteers. The participants un...

The conceptualization of placebo has changed from inactive pills to a detailed understanding of how patients’ perception of receiving a treatment influences pain processing and overall treatment outcome. Large placebo effects were recently demonstrated in chronic neuropathic pain, thereby opening the question of whether placebo effects also apply t...

The aim of the present systematic review was to answer the overall research question: “To what extent is bruxism associated with musculoskeletal signs and symptoms?”. The review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. A PubMed search of articles published until November 23, 2017 was conducted. The search string included both MeSH te...

Background Somatosensory assessment within the orofacial region may be performed using highly standardised quantitative sensory testing (QST). However, the function of the C tactile (CT) afferent, a nerve fibre linked to the perception of pleasant touch, is usually not evaluated. Furthermore, the perception of unpleasantness is also rarely assessed...

This case-control study primarily compared the trigeminal nociceptive function, the intraoral somatosensory profile and possible structural nerve changes between diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN, n = 12) patients and healthy participants (n = 12). The nociceptive blink reflex (nBR) was recorded applying an electrical stimulation over the entry z...

Aims: To investigate whether glutamate-evoked pain in the masseter region differs between three different depths of injection, targeting subcutaneous, muscle, and bone tissues. Methods: A total of 16 healthy volunteers participated and, in a randomized order, received injections of glutamate (1.0 M, 0.2 mL) and isotonic saline (0.9%, 0.2 mL) in...

The aims of this study were to investigate the influence of different spatio-temporal conditions of palpation stimulus on occurrence of referred pain/sensations in healthy participants. Participants comprised 32 pain-free individuals(mean age, 25.7±5.3 years)according to the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders. The right masseter mu...

Background: Simple thermal devices providing reliable data are needed to detect somatosensory disturbances in non-specialized clinical settings. Currently, evidence is lacking about their use. Therefore, the aim was to compare the assessment of perceived thermal sensitivity/pain in healthy humans with a state-of-the-art thermotester and with simpl...

Background: Evidence in the field of dentistry has demonstrated the importance of pain-related disability and psychological assessment in the development of chronic symptoms. The Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders offer a brief assessment for the diagnostic process in patients with orofacial pain (Axis II). The authors describe re...

Aims: To determine if standardized palpation of the masseter muscle can evoke referred pain and/or sensations in healthy individuals and to compare the mechanical sensitivities in response to three different levels of palpation force. Methods: A total of 32 pain-free individuals participated. The right masseter muscle was divided into 15 test si...

Background: Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is characterized by a number of deviations in the orofacial region. The aims of the present study were to investigate the occurrence of temporomandibular disorders, to evaluate the psychosocial status, and to assess the dental occlusion in a population of adult OI patients. Methods: Participants (n = 75)...

Background/aims Muscular pain often impairs masticatory function in Temporomandibular disorder patients. The specific aim of this study was to investigate how the bite force during mastication is influenced by experimental muscle pain caused by infusion of glutamate into the masseter muscle. Methods 12 healthy adults participated, after providing i...

AIMS: To test whether manipulation of mechanical pain sensitivity (MPS) of the masseter muscle is reflected in quantitative measures of entropy. METHODS: In a randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled design, 20 healthy volunteers had glutamate, lidocaine, and isotonic saline injected into the masseter muscle. Self-assessed pain intensity on a...

Aims: To use a randomized, blinded, crossover design to evaluate the possible heterotopic effects of experimental periodontal ligament pain on adjacent gingival somatosensory sensitivity. Methods: A total of 12 healthy volunteers (8 female, 4 male; mean age ± standard error in means (SEM): 28 ± 1 years) participated in two randomized experimenta...

Objective: The nociceptive blink reflex (nBR) can be useful to investigate trigeminal nociceptive function. The aim of this study was to estimate the reliability of the nBR evoked by electrical stimulation of the three branches of the trigeminal nerve under the following conditions: over time (test-retest and intrarater reliability) and by two exa...

Background: Chronic orofacial pain patients often perceive the painful face area as 'swollen' without clinical signs, i.e., a perceptual distortion (PD). Local anesthetic (LA) injections in healthy participants are also associated with PD OBJECTIVE: The aim was to explore whether PD evoked by LA into the infraorbital region of could be modulated b...

Objectives The aim of this study was to examine reports of perceptual distortion evoked by transient deafferentation and burning pain as models of aspects of burning mouth syndrome (BMS). Materials and methodsSixteen healthy women took part in three experimental sessions that included exposure to lingual nerve block, capsaicin, and control substanc...

Aims: To propose a visual method to screen and assess psychosocial functioning in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain patients in comparison with age- and gender-matched healthy controls by forming individual profiles and to evaluate the association between psychosocial profiles and quantitative sensory testing (QST) findings of TMD pain patient...

To investigate effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on neuroplasticity in corticomotor pathways related to tongue muscles evoked by a training task using the Tongue Drive System (TDS). Using a cross-over design, 13 healthy participants completed two sessions of tDCS while performing 30 min of TDS training. Sessions were spaced...

Definition and taxonomy This review deals with neuropathic pain of traumatic origin affecting the trigeminal nerve, i.e. painful post-traumatic trigeminal neuropathy (PTTN). Symptomatology The clinical characteristics of PTTN vary considerably, partly due to the type and extent of injury. Symptoms involve combinations of spontaneous and evoked pai...

Aims: To assess the effects of experimental muscle pain and topical lidocaine applied to the skin overlying the masseter muscle on the mechanical somatosensory profile and face perception of the masseter muscle in healthy participants. Methods: A total of 28 healthy participants received a 45-minute application of a lidocaine or placebo patch to...

Aims: To assess the effect of topical application of capsaicin to the tongue as a surrogate model of burning mouth syndrome (BMS) on somatosensory sensitivity by using a standardized battery of quantitative sensory testing (QST) in healthy volunteers. Methods: This study comprised two experimental sessions (experimental [capsaicin] and control [...

Background: Quantitative sensory testing (QST) relies on psychophysical techniques and instructions to test subjects. This study examined the effect of different verbal instructions for mechanical pain thresholds (MPTs) using two different stimulation techniques; weighted pinprick stimulators and an electronic von Frey device (EvF). The test-retes...

Self-management (SM) programmes are commonly used for initial treatment of patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). The programmes described in the literature, however, vary widely with no consistency in terminology used, components of care, or their definitions. The aims of this study were, therefore, to: construct an operationalized defin...

Qualitative somatosensory testing (QualST) is a simple chairside test. It can be used to roughly assess the presence or absence of altered somatosensory function. To use QualST clinically, it is important to assess its agreement with quantitative sensory testing (QST). The aims of this study were to assess the agreement between QST and QualST when...

Aims: To compare mechanical pain thresholds (MPTs) in the orofacial region assessed with two different approaches: with an electronic von Frey (EvF) device and with custom-made weighted pinprick stimulators. The test-retest reliability, variability of MPTs, and time duration of each test were also compared, as well as the ability of each test to c...

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of visual observational conditions on performance during a standardized tongue-protrusion training (TPT) task and to evaluate subject-based reports of helpfulness, disturbance, pain, and fatigue, due to the observational conditions on 0–10 numerical rating scales. Forty-eight healthy participants...

Background: Clinical differentiation between pain mechanisms of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthralgia and osteoarthritis (OA) is challenging. The aims were to compare somatosensory function at the TMJs and conditioned pain modulation (CPM) effects between TMJ arthralgia and OA patients diagnosed clinically and based on different imaging techniq...

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has demonstrated changes in motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in human limb muscles following modulation of sensory afferent inputs. The aim of this study was to determine whether bilateral local anaesthesia (LA) of the lingual nerve affects the excitability of the tongue motor cortex (MI) as measured by TMS. Th...

Background: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was conducted to investigate if single monosodium glutamate (MSG) administration would elevate muscle/serum glutamate concentrations and affect muscle pain sensitivity in myofascial temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients more than in healthy individuals. Methods: Twelve myofa...

Background The somatosensory phenotype of Chinese temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients is not sufficiently studied with the use of contemporary techniques and guidelines. MethodsA standardized quantitative sensory testing (QST) battery consisting of 13 parameters with a stringent statistical protocol developed by the German Research Network o...

Aims: To evaluate the possible association between the nociceptive blink reflex (nBR) and various pain-related psychological measures: the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3), the Fear of Pain Questionnaire III (FPQ-III), the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ), the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS), the Pain Catastrophizing S...

Purpose: Self-reported measures have been widely used to indicate the presence of possible and probable sleep bruxism (SB) in both research and clinical situations. However, few studies have attempted to assess the diagnostic validity of this approach. The aim of this study was to estimate the diagnostic validity of self-reported measures of SB us...

Anecdotally, chronic oro-facial pain patients may perceive the painful face area as ‘swollen’. Because there are no clinical signs, these self-reported ‘illusions’ may represent perceptual distortions and can be speculated to contribute to the maintenance of oro-facial pain. This descriptive study investigated whether chronic oro-facial pain patien...

Aims: To use simple thermal devices with different diameters and temperatures to investigate reliability and magnitude of human intraoral thermal sensitivity. Methods: Sixteen healthy volunteers participated. Six thermal devices with tapered circular ends (stimulus diameter 3, 5, and 10 mm) were used. Three different temperatures (room temperatu...

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is often thought to be associated with headache and craniofacial pains like temporomandibular disorders. This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was performed to investigate how ingestion of MSG affects muscle pain sensitivity before and after experimentally induced muscle pain. Sixteen healthy adult sub...

This study investigated the effect of repeated tongue lift training (TLT) on the excitability of the corticomotor representation of the human tongue and jaw musculature. Sixteen participants performed three series of TLT for 41min on each of 5 consecutive days. Each TLT series consisted of two pressure levels (5kPa and 10kPa). All participants unde...

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of 5-days repeated jaw-motor tasks on masseter muscle accuracy performance. Design: Sixteen healthy participants performed a tooth-clenching task (TCT) of 58-minutes on five consecutive days. During measurements, electromyography (EMG) of both masseter muscles was recorded. Each day...

The pathophysiology and underlying pain mechanisms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are poorly understood. The aims were to assess somatosensory function at the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) and examine whether conditioned pain modulation (CPM) differs between TMD pain patients (n=34) and healthy controls (n=34). Quantitative sensory testing (...

To assess the spatial and temporal sensory effects of the topical application of capsaicin and menthol on the gingiva of healthy volunteers. Capsaicin, menthol, and saline (control) were applied topically on the gingiva in the maxillary premolar area of healthy volunteers for 15 minutes. Pain intensity was rated on a 0 to 10 visual analog scale (VA...

One particular line of orofacial pain research that has contributed significantly to the development of the field is the systematic study of somatosensory function and responses in healthy volunteers and clinical patients. For centuries, cognitive neuroscientists have used psychophysical techniques to unravel mechanisms and describe sensory functio...

Patients suffering from persistent orofacial pain may sporadically report that the painful area feels "swollen" or "differently," a phenomenon that may be conceptualized as a perceptual distortion because there are no clinical signs of swelling present. Our aim was to investigate whether standardized experimental pain and sensory deprivation of spe...

The aim of the experiment was to test the hypothesis that experimental pain in the masseter muscle or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) would perturb the oral fine motor control, reflected in bigger variability of bite force values and jaw muscle activity, during repeated splitting of food morsels. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in four session...

Objectives: To examine the frequency of clinical pain parameters in patients diagnosed with atypical odontalgia (AO), and to determine the reliability on repeated testing. Methods: 21 adult patients (18 women, 3 men; mean age 56±14 years) diagnosed with atypical odontalgia in an extensive clinical and radiographic examination were recruited from th...

(article in Swedish language) In addition to patients with the more familiar and common oro- facial pain conditions, the dentist will sometimes encounter pa- tients with neuropathic pain. The article describes and explains the clinical presentation of neuropathic pain, and gives an over- view of painful conditions in the trigeminal region attribu...

Anecdotally, orofacial pain patients sometimes report that the painful face area feels 'swollen'. Because there are no clinical signs of swelling, such illusions may represent perceptual distortions. In this study, we examine whether nociceptive stimulation can lead to perceptual distortion of the face in a way similar to that of local anesthesia....

The aim of this study was to investigate temporal and spatial aspects of somatosensory changes after topical application of capsaicin, menthol and local anesthetics (LA) on the gingiva with the use of intraoral palpometers and thermal devices. Sixteen healthy volunteers (eight male, eight female) participated. Four topical preparations (capsaicin,...