抄録
We studied 10 with women glossodynia from the physiological view point. We measured the changes in the intensity of pain when the patients chewed chewing gum.
They did not feel any pain during meals. Their age was between 38 and 70 with an average of 54.
We gave each patient 4 sugared chewing gum sheets and 4 sugarless chewing gum sheets. The patient was instructed to chew one sheet of gum when they felt tongue pain.
1. The pain disappeared or decreased in 78% after the chewing sugared gum and in 70% after chewing the sugarless gums. In the other cases, there was no obvious effect on pain.
2. There was no significant difference between the sugared gum and sugarless gum.
3. The effects of chewing gums were not always identical in the same subject.
4. Greater effects on the palliation of pain tended to be observed in the patients who reported a preference for the sugared gum over the non-sugared gum.
It is suggested that various sensory inputs from the oral structures to the brain regions dealing with pain informations are the important mechanism in reducing the pain in glossodynia.
