The study on the oral sensations of patients with cleft lip and palate

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K18656
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 57060:Surgical dentistry-related
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Shimada Eriya 東北大学, 歯学研究科, 助教 (00822115)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 口唇口蓋裂 / 脳磁図計 / 口腔感覚

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It is still not clear to what extent oral sensation is recovered in the patients with cleft lip and palate who have undergone cheiloplasty and palatoplasty. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively and objectively evaluate the oral sensory characteristics of the patients with cleft lip and palate by measuring somatosensory evoked magnetic fields (SEFs) using a magnetoencephalography. The results showed that the latency of SEFs during electrical stimulation of the upper lip and palate was significantly prolonged in the pathents with cleft lip and palate group compared to the healthy subject group. It was suggested that cheiloplasty or palatoplasty might have affected the sensory conduction pathways in the patients with cleft lip and palate.

Free Research Field

歯科矯正学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

口腔感覚は咀嚼や言語などの口腔機能と相関があるとされ、口腔感覚の改善が口腔機能の改善に繋がると考えられる。本研究では、脳磁図形を用いて口唇口蓋裂患者の口腔感覚伝達メカニズムの一端を明らかにした。この成果により、口唇口蓋裂患者の口腔形態のみならず、口腔感覚も考慮した新たな治療法の開発に繋がる可能性がある。