The morphology and quantity of neural elements in 109 tissue specimens of gingiva and edentulous mucosa were studied by the cholinesterase whole-mount technique. The microscopic findings were compared on the basis of morphology, sex and age of patient, location of the biopsy site in the mouth, edentulous state and time, and the presence of a prosthesis.Extensive studies of nerve endings in oral mucosa by Jurjewa,' Kadanoff,ZS3 Kokubun,4 and Lewinsky and Stewart57 have presented detailed morphologic descriptions of numerous nerve endings, some of which were believed to be specific to oral mucosa and some of which had been described earlier in skin. Gairns and Aitchison,8 Rapp, Kirstine, and Avery,9 and Bernick'0"1 described the morphology of numerous nerve endings and also studied the quantity and distribution of nerve endings in oral mucosa. They concluded that nerve endings varied considerably in morphology and distribution from one part of the mouth to another. Dixon,'2-'5 who has done the most extensive investigation thus far, was unable to find specific nerve endings in his studies of the oral mucosa in animals and man. He found that all endings are a variation of one main type, and his work agrees with earlier findings in skin which suggested a patterned sensibility rather than a specific theory.16 He also concluded that nerve endings and submucous nerve plexuses are more numerous in the anterior part of the mouth, the dorsum of the tongue, the interdental papilla, and the rugal folds. Most of the in-
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