Background:Trigeminal neuralgia typically involves nerves supplying teeth, jaws and face of older females. Though the etiology is usually obscure, different treatment modalities have been tried for it viz. medicinal treatment, injection alcohol, peripheral neurectomy, rhizotomy, and microvascular decompression etc. Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) is an emerging and promising option for management of such patients.Aims and Design:The present study was designed with an aim to study the efficacy of TENS in management of trigeminal neuralgia.Materials and Methods:The study was conducted on 30 patients of trigeminal neuralgia confirmed by diagnostic nerve block. They were given bursts of TENS for 20-40 days over the path of the affected nerve and subsequently evaluated at 1 month and 3 month intervals by visual analogue scale (VAS), verbal pain scale (VPS), a functional outcome scales for main daily activities like sleep, chewing, talking, or washing face.Results:The results showed that, on VAS, the score decreased from 8.9 (Pre TENS) to 3.1 at 1 month and 1.3 at 3 months, and on VPS, the score decreased from 3.5 (Pre TENS) to 1.2 at 1 month and 0.3 at 3 months. Similarly, a considerable decrease in scores was seen on functional outcome scale for different activities. No side effects like irritation or redness of skin were seen in any of the patients.Conclusions:Thus, TENS was found to be a safe, easily acceptable, and non-invasive outdoor patient department procedure for management of trigeminal neuralgia.

No abstract

Introduction: Mental Foramen (MF) holds strategic importance in clinical dentistry and oral surgery. Its accurate identification determines the effectiveness of nerve blocks and prevention of postoperative neurovascular complications. Aim: To compare mental foramen on dry bones with their orthopantomogram and to find out if any difference and correlation exist between both modalities . Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at Anatomy Department of Government Medical college Amritsar, Punjab, India, from January 2018 to December 2021. It comprised of 200 dry human mandibles belonging to either sex, ranging from dentulous to partial dentulous. Orthopantomagram (OPG) of same mandibles were taken. Study was conducted in two phases. Phase I was dry bone phase and Phase II was radiographic phase. Distance of mental foramen from symphysis menti, posterior border of ramus, alveolar crest, lower border of body of mandible and distance between depth of the socket and mental foramen were evaluated. Student’s t-test for comparison and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were applied to find any correlation between two modalities . Results: Distance of mental foramen from symphysis menti, posterior border of ramus of mandible, alveolar crest and depth of socket showed statistically significant difference (p-value <0.001) in between dry bone and orthopantomogram on both right and left sides. Actual bone length from mental foramen to symphysis menti,to posterior border of ramus and inferior border of body of mandible was more than it appeared on OPG. Distances obtained with OPG from MF to alveolar crest (dry bone: Right= 13.49±3.46 mm; Left= 13.42±3.49 mm and on OPG: Right= 16±4.15 mm; Left= 15.42±3.84 mm) and to depth of socket (dry bone: Right= 2.48±1.58 mm; Left= 2.70±1.68 mm and on OPG: Right= 3.69±2.08 mm; Left= 4.26±1.99 mm) were magnified. Conclusion: The results of the present study depicted that structures were not equally magnified. Knowledge about magnification at particular region is important before proceeding any surgery in that region.

No abstract

An inferior alveolar nerve block is a usual practice by a dental practitioner. Panoramic radiography is a widely used technique in dentistry to get a clear and comprehensive view before planning any treatment. The study aimed to compare the morphometric localization of mandibular foramen (MF) on dry bones and orthopantomogram. The study was designed in two phases: a morphometric study on dry human mandibles (phase I) and orthopantomograms of the same dry human mandibles (phase II). The study materials were 200 dry north Indian human mandibles belonging to unknown sex obtained from the Department of Anatomy. Descriptive statistics, including range, mean±standard deviation, paired t-test to compare dry bones and orthopantomogram, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and measurement error, were used. T-test was applied separately to compare the right and left sides of dry bones. The distance of mandibular foramen from the posterior border and lower border is shorter on the right side than on the left. Its distance from the anterior border and the mandibular notch was greater on the right side. On panoramic radiographs, the distance of MF from nearby anatomical landmarks on the mandible was highly unreliable except for the mandibular notch. Our findings demonstrate a statistically significant difference between distances on dry bone and OPG but no statistically significant difference between MF-notch on both sides and MF-AB on the right side. As a result, a surgeon can rely upon a mandibular notch to locate mandibular foramen during clinical procedures. Magnification is an inbuilt property of OPG; for precise localization of MF, it is advisable to proceed with advanced three-dimensional techniques to protect viable anatomical structures.