Analisi quantitativa della sensibilita facciale in soggetti adulti normali

It is well known that nerve lesions of various origins can cause disturbances of varying degrees of tactile, thermal and pain sensitivity (and that these can be affected to varying degrees).

In the maxillofacial area, neurological lesions are generally produced by infections, neoplasms, toxic factors in the broad sense and trauma. The latter can also be iatrogenic, that is due to certain surgical methods that can give or sometimes dissect nerve trunks, especially in elective osteotomies often used today for the correction of skeletal anomalies. Branches of the trigeminal nerve are more exposed in these cases (2).
In these cases, the examination of facial sensitivity would be very useful for diagnosing any nerve lesions. The various methods normally used are not per6 specific nor do they have quantitative evaluations. In fact, it does not appear from the literature consulted that skin sensitivity has been quantified in the maxillofacial area, and in particular in the innervated areas of the trigeminal nerve.

Numerous authors have attempted to analyze skin perception in normal subjects and in patients suffering from various pathologies with objective and quantitative methods (5,7,10,12).