Evaluation of the response to electric pulp testing in multiple sclerosis patients without a history of trigeminal neuralgia: a case-control study

• Published in: BMC neurology Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 1 - 403
• Main Authors: Owlia, Fatemeh, Mahmoudzade, Nazanin, Modaresi, Jalil, Zarchi, Marzieh Abutorabi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 20-10-2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Age; Analgesics; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Dental pulp; Dental stimulation; Diagnosis; Disease; Electric pulp test; Electric stimulation; Electrical stimuli; Health aspects; Incisors; Maxilla; Medical research; Multiple sclerosis; Nervous system; Neuralgia; Neuralgia, Trigeminal; Neuropathy; Risk factors; Standard deviation; Substance abuse treatment; Teeth; Testing; Tooth pulp; Trigeminal nerve; Iran; United States > US
• ISSN: 1471-2377; 1471-2377
• DOI: 10.1186/s12883-021-02416-0

Background The importance of evaluating the pulpal threshold to electrical stimulation, as a side effect of probable neuropathy in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients is a novel issue. This study aimed to investigate electrical pulp test thresholds in MS patients without a history of trigeminal neuralgia compared to healthy individuals. Methods Sixty-nine maxillary central incisors, belonging to 34 relapsing-remitting MS patients, and 35 healthy individuals were included in this survey. The MS patients matched for intended variables, were 22-50 years old, had a more than 1-year history of MS, no history of trigeminal neuralgia and/or other neuropathy. The electric pulp sensibility test was performed on all samples. Electric pulp testing (EPT) results were recorded based on the pulp tester.sup.'s grade that evoked a response. Data were analyzed with paired T-test, Mann-Whitney test, and Spearman correlation (P < 0.05). Results According to the results of this study, the mean values of response to EPT were 1.2 [+ or -] 0.5 and 1.8 [+ or -] 0.5 in MS patients and healthy individuals, respectively. The pulpal response to EPT between the two groups was significantly different (P < 0.0001). Conclusions MS patients showed a significantly reduced response to the electric pulp test in their maxillary central incisors in comparison to matched healthy persons. Keywords: Electric pulp test, Multiple sclerosis, Tooth pulp, Diagnosis, Dental stimulation