Distribution of sensory nerve endings in the rat labial mucosa

Abstract

The morphological investigation of the sensory nerve endings in the oral mucosa has been carried out under two different processes. One was planned to clarify the construction of the nerve ending and the relationship between the axon terminal and the associated cells, the other to investigate the distribution of nerve endings involved in the tactile or pressure sensitivity. We had originally chosen the latter approach and, in the previous report, the distribution of the sensory nerve endings were mainly studied in the mouse labial mucosa. The present study was designed to examine the distribution of organized sensory nerve endings in the rat labial mucosa.