Touch Sensitivity of Natural Teeth and Endosseous Implants Revealed by Difference Thresholds

Twenty-four patients confronted with different teeth loadings revealed the suprathreshold discrimination sensitivity of teeth and endosseous implants. Magnitude differences between loads applied to implants and loads applied to natural teeth were detected with the same accuracy in both cases. Present results agree with previous investigations employing other psychophysical methods. This strengthens the view that remote mechanoreceptors are responsible for suprathreshold touch sensitivity of both teeth and implants. Keywords: difference threshold, endosseous implants, mechanoreceptor, quantitative mechanoperception