Lingual Nerve (lingual + nerve)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Taste deficits related to dental deafferentation: an electrogustometric study in humans

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 6 2006
Yves Boucher
Dental treatments, the prevalence of which increases with age, can cause orofacial somatosensory deficits. In order to examine whether they may also affect taste sensitivity, electrogustometric thresholds were measured at 9 loci on the tongue surface in 391 healthy non-smoking, non-medicated subjects. Results showed that the greater the number of deafferented teeth, the higher the thresholds. Irrespective of age, subjects with more than 7 deafferented teeth exhibited significantly higher thresholds than subjects with fewer than 7 deafferented teeth. Conversely, across age groups, no statistical difference was observed among subjects with no, or few, deafferented teeth. Hence, a taste deficit, which was not correlated to aging, was observed. An association was noticed between the location of taste deficits and the location of deafferented teeth. Higher thresholds at anterior sites, with no possible traumatic injury relationship, suggested that neurophysiological convergence between dental somatosensory and taste pathways , possibly in the nucleus tractus solitarius , could be responsible for these relative decreases of taste sensitivity when dental afferences were lacking. Among trigeminal contributions, lingual nerve and inferior alveolar nerve may synergize taste. [source]


Metastatic cancer to the floor of mouth: the lingual lymph nodes,,

HEAD & NECK: JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENCES & SPECIALTIES OF THE HEAD AND NECK, Issue 4 2002
Jay M. Dutton MD
Abstract Background The upper level of a cervical lymphadenectomy is anatomically defined at its anterior extent by the lower border of the mandible and, in surgical practice, by the lingual nerve. A neck dissection completed below this level is generally considered adequate for removal of lymph nodes at risk for metastases from oral cavity cancer. Traditional discontinuous neck dissections do not provide for removal of floor of mouth tissue along with the primary and neck specimens. Methods A case report presenting biopsies from a T2N2bM0 squamous cell carcinoma of the mobile tongue and adjacent floor of the mouth in a 73-year-old man. Results Deep biopsy of a ventral tongue and floor of mouth squamous cell carcinoma revealed occult metastatic cancer to lymph nodes located in the superficial floor of mouth associated with the sublingual gland above the lingual nerve. This report identifies floor of mouth lymph nodes that can be involved with cancer and missed through the standard practice of discontinuous neck dissection.Conclusions. This finding offers evidence that, in certain cases, a traditional discontinuous neck dissection may not address all lymph nodes at risk in the treatment of oral cavity cancer. Further investigation into lymph node distribution within the oral cavity is warranted to reappraise the upper limits of cervical lymphadenectomy. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 24: 401,405, 2002; DOI 10.1002/hed.10026 [source]


Penetration of muscles by branches of the mandibular nerve: A possible cause of neuropathy

CLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 1 2004
Takashi Shimokawa
Abstract We carried out detailed dissections of the branches of the mandibular nerve and muscles innervated by these branches to investigate their positional relationships. We made the following observations: 1) small branch of the auriculotemporal nerve penetrated the lateral pterygoid muscle; 2) the entire lingual nerve penetrated the medial pterygoid muscle; and 3) branch of the mylohyoid nerve penetrated the mylohyoid muscle and communicated with the submandibular ganglion. No detailed descriptions of these nerve branches have been reported previously. The existence of these nerve branches that penetrate muscles might result in the neuralgic pain in the trigeminal region when such pain is of unknown origin. Clin. Anat. 17:2,5, 2004. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Anatomical variations and clinical implications of the artery to the lingual nerve

CLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 4 2003
Stanton D. Harn
Abstract The pterygomandibular space is a critical anatomic area for the delivery of local anesthesia in the practice of dentistry. The neurovascular contents of this area are subject to trauma and its resultant local and systemic complications. This study of 202 cadaveric specimens reaffirms the literature as to the percent distributions of the superficial and deep routes of the maxillary artery and details for the first time the anatomic variations of the artery to the lingual nerve. This artery courses through the pterygomandibular space placing it at risk for injection trauma along with the other neurovascular contents. It has been uncommonly identified and referred to in the literature, yet it may be the first artery encountered when entering the space with a needle or during surgical intervention in the area. Clin. Anat. 16:294,299, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Repair of the trigeminal nerve: a review

AUSTRALIAN DENTAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010
RHB Jones
Abstract Nerve surgery in the maxillofacial region is confined to the trigeminal and facial nerves and their branches. The trigeminal nerve can be damaged as a result of trauma, local anaesthesia, tumour removal and implant placement but the most common cause relates to the removal of teeth, particularly the inferior alveolar and lingual nerves following third molar surgery. The timing of nerve repair is controversial but it is generally accepted that primary repair at the time of injury is the best time to repair the nerve but it is often a closed injury and the operator does not know the nerve is injured until after the operation. Early secondary repair at about three months after injury is the most accepted time frame for repair. However, it is also thought that a reasonable result can be obtained at a later time. It is also generally accepted that the best results will be obtained with a direct anastamosis of the two ends of the nerve to be repaired. However, if there is a gap between the two ends, a nerve graft will be required to bridge the gap as the two ends of the nerve will not be approximated without tension and a passive repair is important for the regenerating axons to grow down the appropriate perineural tubes. Various materials have been used for grafting and include autologous grafts, such as the sural and greater auricular nerves, vein grafts, which act as a conduit for the axons to grow down, and allografts such as Neurotube, which is made of polyglycolic acid (PGA) and will resorb over a period of time. [source]