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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate and quantify the effects of Ultra-Low Frequency Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (ULF-TENS) on the Central Nervous System, using electroencephalography. The research was conducted on a study group of twelve patients, and a control group of six. Patients were chosen between the ages of twenty and thirty years old, and all had occlusal flags without pain. The electroencephalography patterns were registered, for each patient in the study group, before and after the application of 60’ of the ULF-TENS. In nine of the twelve cases studied, a diminution of the cerebral rhythm was registered along with the appearance of a sedative effect caused by an increment in Alfa waves and a state of hypo-alertness caused by an increment in the theta rhythm. An identical effect was registered in one subject of the control group while another subject had an increased cerebral rhythm, and in the remaining four subjects, all values remained invariable. The study demonstrated two important points. First, it confirmed the utility of the EEG as a noninvasive useful method in order to study the central effects of the ULF-TENS, and second, also positive, it revealed the sedative effects on the central nervous system registered by the EEG.
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Notes on contributors
Felicita Pierleoni
Dr. Felicita Pierleoni is a research fellow at the University of Florence Dental School, Florence, Italy since 1996. She earned her M.D. in 1985 and a Ph.D. in orthodontics in 1989. She has taught stomatological pathology since 1999 and craniomandibular disorders since 2005 at the Florence Dental School. She is also in charge of the public service of craniomandibular disorders for the University Hospital of Careggi, Florence, Italy. She dedicates her research activity to stomatological pathologies, craniomandibular disorders and their correlation with body posture, otological pathologies, and headaches.
Andrea Gizdulich
Dr. Andrea Gizdulich is a research fellow at the University of Florence Dental School, Florence, Italy since 2000. He has taught clinical dental practice and TMJ disorders at the Florence Dental School since 2002.
Filippo Paoletti
Dr. Filippo Paoletti received his D.D.S. degree from the University of Florence, Italy in 2004. Dr. Paoletti has spoken at international dental conferences and has published articles in national dental journals. From 2005 to 2008, he worked for the Department of TMJ treatments at the University of Florence and currently practices dentistry in Pistoia (Tuscany) where he dedicates his practice to the diagnosis and treatment of TMJ disorders.