2013 Volume 26 Issue 2 Pages 272-280
Mastication behavior is regulated in a coordinated fashion by stomatognathic organs. Oral sensation including periodontal sensation is related to quality of mastication. While many experiments on implant sensation have been reported, the perception of osseointegrated implants is unclear. In this study, a literature review was conducted using the databases of PubMed and the Japan Medical Abstracts Society to survey the evidence relating to the difference of sensation by occlusal stress between endosseous dental implants and natural teeth. We searched the Pubmed database by using the keywords: "perception", "dental implants", and "sensation";and the Japan Medical Abstracts Society website by using the keywords:"dental implant (shika-inpuranto in Japanese)", "sensation (kankaku in Japanese)", and "perception (chikaku in Japanese)". 28 articles (20 English and 8 Japanese papers) were found in total in the two databases. Of these, 17 papers were on pressure perception and 7 on occlusal perception (appreciable thickness to bite), 1 on touch perception, 2 on vibration perception, 1 on response time, and 1 on hardness perception. Overall reports suggested that the perception thresholds of osseointegrated implants were significantly higher than those of natural teeth. More detailed experiments are required for a systematic review on implant perception.
