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Trigeminal Somatosensory-evoked Potentials (TSEPs) Elicited by Electrical Stimulation of Endosseous Oral Implants: An
Shetty Hardik Santosh1, Ramdas Balakrishna2, Purnendu Bhushan3
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Sharavathi Dental College and Hospital, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India, Phone: +91 8431515843,
Aim:
The current in vivo investigation aimed to evaluate trigeminal somatosensory-evoked potentials (TSEPs) on endosseous oral implants to accurately perceive their neurophysiological integration.
Materials And Methods:
Twenty-two endosseous dental implants, one in each of the mandibular and maxillary jaws, were selected for the study at least 4 months after the implants were placed in the mandible and 6 months after they were implanted in the maxilla, respectively. Each of the participants received electrical stimulation to the implant. A current stimulator was used to give square-wave (alternating polarity) stimuli with a frequency of 2 Hz and a duration of 0.1 ms. Before the actual TSEP recordings, the stimulation process involved determining the person's sensory threshold. Ag/AgCl cup electrodes were used to capture TSEPs from the head and neck area. The technique used to record the TSEPs aimed to quantify the outcomes by measuring the peak-to-peak amplitudes (µV) and peak-to-peak latencies (ms) of each pair of consecutive events. Data were recorded and statistically analyzed.
Results:
The most evident and reliable characteristic of the TSEPs was a positive wave that was recorded from the C5 site and had a latency of 28-35 ms. When the maxilla and mandibular implants were examined independently, no clear pattern of waveform similarity could be seen. The output values appeared to be unaffected by the topical anesthesia. Positive and negative waveform peak values were used to assess the latencies; the mean value for positive latency (P33) was 31.62, and for negative latency (N24), it was 24.79. The peak events at N24 and P33 were found to be the most reliably obtained and to be locally appropriate for clinical assessment.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the current results suggest that the TSEP waveforms produced by electrically stimulating endosseous implants in the oral cavity could be measured based on their latency; however, there was no rationale for a correlation between the derived values above and the subjects' sensory threshold, the current milliamperage, or the stimulus intensity.
Clinical Significance:
It's an effort to establish more robust connections between the integration of foreign materials and functional competency, and neurophysical and psychophysical aspects are related. Implant-mediated sensory-motor control provides the potential for more natural functioning with implant-supported prostheses, which might have important therapeutic implications. A non-invasive method of recording human TSEPs following peripheral stimulation of the trigeminal nerve may offer an impartial means of assessing neuroscientific processes. How to cite this article: Santosh SH, Balakrishna R, Bhushan P, et al. Trigeminal Somatosensory-evoked Potentials (TSEPs) Elicited by Electrical Stimulation of Endosseous Oral Implants: An In Vivo Study. J Contemp Dent Pract 2025;26(10):959-964.
