here are 5 questions each question’s answer length corresponds to the marks given to each question. I would like the answers full of information and straight to the point. The word count can exceed 1100 if it must. As for question 5, it is asking for the medical relation between fainting and fear as the dental chair is just a scenario.
I would like the vancouver method of referencing please with no less than 5 links.
Answers
The Nervous System and Oral Health
Question 1
The cerebral cortex the brain’s thin layer covering the cerebrum’s outer section. The meninges covers this part of the brain, which is commonly known as gray matter since it lacks the insulation that whitens other brain parts. Brain functional imaging in neurophysiologic studies in humans has affirmed the role of the cerebral cortex in the regulation of oral sensory activities. In most of the activities, the studies show that the cerebral cortex stimulates to evoke a full sequence of the target oral activity or process. Maezawa (2017) revealed that cortical entrainment regulate sophisticated tongue movements to achieve various oral functions in humans, such as swallowing, speech production, mastication and respiration. The sensorimotor cortex, originating from the central sulcus’ wall determines the ability of detecting the head surface’s dipoles tangential. Research findings have revealed that the crossed and uncrossed fiber tracts exert the tongue’s somatosensory sensations (1). The tracks run across the descending and ascending pathways of both hemispheres in the cerebral cortex.
Furthermore, the ipsilateral primary somatosensory cortex represents the oral region of a human. Ipsilateral oral representations in the two hemispheres induce bilateral tongue sensations and movements. Further research has revealed a clear pathway from the cortex to the parts of the brain that stimulates oral activities and processes, the descending and ascending pathways of both hemispheres in the cerebral cortex. Although most of the findings revealing the role of the cerebral cortex in sensory oral activities and processes have been conducted in anesthetized animals, the findings can be replicated in humans (2). Thus, it is safe to conclude that the cortex has a significant role in modulating and controlling the brainstems that influence sensory oral activities and processes.
Question 2
Before focusing on the role of parasympathetic innervation in the oral health profession, it is necessary to understand what parts are innervated by the parasympathetic system. Parasympathetic innervation emanates from the parasympathetic nervous system, which is a nervous system’s division involved in the modulation of visceral organs. Glands of the upper tract are innervated by the glossopharyngeal and vagus parasympathetic nerves. The glands include esophageal glands, the salivary glands, pancreas, gastric glands, and Brunner’s glands in the duodenum. For example, the parasympathetic innervation affects sublingual and submandibular glands that the superior salivatory nucleus provides through the chorda tympani nerve.
Nerves carries lower motor neurons that emanate from nucleus ambiguus (NA). The nerve innervates majority of laryngeal and pharyngeal muscles through the pharyngeal plexus among other branches. The nerve plays a role in innervating various fibers in the mouth. Furthermore, the vagus nerves and pelvic innervate the oral cavity through muscles, such as palatoglosus, which are responsible for motor aspects of the oral cavity. Oral health professionals need to understand the working of the parasympathetic nervous system due to the role it plays in the functioning of the face and the mouth, which have the highest number of sensory and motor nerves. They should learn the role of nerves in the innervation process and how it controls the dental cavity, leading to health or illness affecting it (4). In general, the understanding of parasympathetic innervation is critical for oral health professionals due to the role of nerves in maintaining optimal health.
Question 3
The sympathetic trunk is located in the vertebral column’s side, one on either side and extends from the skull’s base to the coccyx. The trunks have sympathetic ganglia, which lies on the ribs’ neck. The sympathetic trunk plays an essential role in the sympathetic nervous system, which regulates the working of various nerves. For instance, the Cranial Sympathetics comprise of the sympathetic efferent fibers in vagus, glossopharyngeal, oculomotor, and facial nerves, which determines the working of the dental cavity among other motor activities in the mouth and face. Many conditions affecting nerves, such as the trigeminal nerve can exhibit themselves as toothache, such as trigeminal neuropathies, trigeminal neuralgia, and trigeminal zoster (maxillary or mandibular part). Thus, when a person has an oral problem, such as a toothache, the problem is nerve-related, which emanates from the disruption in the communication process between the nervous system and the affected nerves, such as the trigeminal nerve or any other oral nerve injury (5). The normal process involves optimal communication through the sympathetic trunk, which is disrupted in the event of an oral problem. The sympathetic system ensures optimal blood supply in the oral organs through the nervous system (6). Therefore, anytime the sympathetic are not playing their optimal role, the nerves cease to function well, which causes a dental problem, such as tooth sensitivity. The disruption in the communication sends a message to the nervous system through the trunks that are manifested as pain or sensitivity on the tooth any time a person tries to chew something hot or cold.
Question 4
Mouth ulcers are one of the most common oral health problems. Notably, such sores are small lesions that develop in the mouth or under the gums and make chewing and drinking painful. In particular, mouth ulcers are the erosion or loss of the delicate tissue’s part, which lines the inner part of the mouth. For instance, in aphthous ulcers (both minor and major), neuropeptide-containing nerves play an important role. The mouth ulcer is any break that exposes nerves, such as vagus, and communicates to the nervous system to send a response; which is manifested as pain (6). They tend to affect the mucous membrane and affect the mouth’s anatomy, including the optimal working of the nerves, such as vagus that support optimal dental health. The ulcers affect the nerves in the mouth and cause oral sensory nerve damage, affecting the nerve pathways (such as the lingual nerve) carrying a message from the mouth up to the brain.
Question 5
In some cases, it is common for people to experience heightened levels of fear in the dental chair, which can even lead to fainting. The process emanates from the autonomic system, which is divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts. For instance, the sympathetic system plays a critical role in the reaction to the dental chair, including fainting. The system helps the body to prepare for and regulate emergencies or, instead, the “fight-or-flight” response (3). Some people become intensely scared or anxious when they enter the dentist’s room and see the dental chair. Such fear might become worse when they have to sit on the chair. Therefore, the person responds to the situation in a “fight-or-flight” response following the activation of numerous complex pathways by the sympathetic system, which causes increased heart rate, faster breathing, changes in blood flow, higher blood pressure, and dilation of pupils. During the fight-or-flight response, two systems are activated by the hypothalamus: the adrenal-cortical system and the sympathetic nervous system. Nerve pathways are used by the sympathetic nervous system to cause the reaction in the body that might manifest as painting when a person is exposed to a frightening situation.
Bibliography
- Maezawa H. Cortical mechanisms of tongue sensorimotor functions in humans: a review of the magnetoencephalography approach. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 2017 Mar 28;11:134.
- Steele CM, Miller AJ. Sensory input pathways and mechanisms in swallowing: a review. Dysphagia. 2010 Dec 1;25(4):323-33.
- Haggard P, de Boer L. Oral somatosensory awareness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2014 Nov 1;47:469-84.
- Knox SM, Lombaert IM, Reed X, Vitale-Cross L, Gutkind JS, Hoffman MP. Parasympathetic innervation maintains epithelial progenitor cells during salivary organogenesis. Science. 2010 Sep 24;329(5999):1645-7.
- Yin Z, Yin J, Cai J, Sui T, Cao X. Neuroanatomy and clinical analysis of the cervical sympathetic trunk and longus colli. Journal of biomedical research. 2015 Nov; 29(6):501.
- Takamura JC. Improving oral health for the elderly: an interdisciplinary approach. Springer Science & Business Media; 2008 Jan 11.
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