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Background: Traditionally, a series of steps have been carried out to make a complete denture, which are still essential despite technological advances. However, in some patients it is difficult to adapt new dentures. Objective: To describe a simplified technique for the duplication of total dentures using thermo-cured acrylic. This technique seeks to preserve intraoral mechanoreceptors and muscle adaptation that a patient has managed for years with the old dentures. Case description: A patient with severe bone resorption in both jaws needed to change 20-plus-yearold dentures. Duplicators similar to 3i® were made to obtain copies similar to the patient's dentures. Simultaneous impressions of both jaws with closed mouth were taken. The definitive thermo-cured dentures similar to the patient's old ones maintained neurosensory physiology and the patient did not feel the change. Conclusions: Conservation of the sensory receptors such as cold, pressure, heat and muscle activity is essential for success in cases of denture duplication. The author has around 2500 cases of denture duplication in a more than-20-year practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin mechanoreceptors are essential for the vibro-tactile sensory perception. The vibro-tactile perception depends mainly on both fast adapting receptors (Pacini and Meissner's corpuscles) and slow adapting ones (Merkel discs). Vibratory perception in the periphery has different characteristics depending on the skin surface that receives its afferents. From a mechanical point of view, the vibration sinusoid has different characteristics (amplitude and firing frequency), which confer diverse properties and will generate distinguishable features in the vibro-tactile perception. The vibratory stimuli transmission pathway from the periphery to the somatosensory cortex includes four neural relays that retain a somatotopic distribution along the way, and the signal decoding in each relay, preserves its mechanical characteristics. At a cortical level it appears that the secondary somatosensory area (SII) receives afferents mainly from high-frequency mechanoreceptors capable of discriminating primarily the frequency but also the amplitude (pitch) of the vibratory stimulus. Finally it is recognized that a co-activation of both somatosensory and auditory association cortices occurs, and that this co-activation is dependent on the intrinsic properties of the vibration sinusoid (frequency, amplitude and duration) as well as on the environmental feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of sensory nerve branches in the lateral and the back of the hand have been described more accurately in recent decades due to advances in new diagnostic techniques, which have identified that about 40% of the population examined have some degree of anatomical variation in the distribution area of the sensitive nerves involved. The knowledge of the number of fibers forming, a sensitive nerve of the hand has become more important with the development of microsurgical techniques and ultrasonography; procedures that have demonstrated the usefulness of this information in the diagnosis and treatment of nerve injuries. Thus, the fascicular architecture, adipose tissue area and the vascular area of a nerve branch, data that has been demonstrated that change with age, will determine the therapeutic and prognosis of nerve injuries. In this case we present an extremely rare and bilateral anatomical variation, involving the superficial branch of radial nerve and the lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve, a situation that is described in the literature only once and which notably alter the sensory innervations of the radial edge of the hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of the sensory nerve branches in the lateral and the back of the hand have been described more accurately in the past decades due to advancement of high performance electro-diagnostic variation techniques, which indicate that approximately 40% of the population examined have some degree of anatomical variation in the distribution area of the nerves involved. In this case we present an extremely rare, bilaterally detected variation, involving the superficial branch of the radial nerve (SBRN) and lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve of the forearm (LABCN), where the SBRN is connected integrally with the medial branch of LABCN, forming a common trunk (CT) distributed by the dorsal region of the hand. Furthermore, the lateral branch of the LABCN is distributed in the lateral border of the hand, occupying the area of the skin of the SBRN, an event that is described only once in the literature. The discovery of these anatomical variations in dissected cadavers for teaching purposes, in the Department of Anatomy, have an undeniable educational value for our undergraduate students and especially for the graduate who can observe the enormous variability of human beings first hand, and value implications of this anatomical knowledge in daily clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To value the multiple technologies involved in facial rejuvenation and focusing in those minimally invasive complementary procedures to the usual Plastic and Aesthetic Surgeries, it's very important the exhaustive knowledge of the muscular structures involved in the facial movements. To such an effect, an anatomical study has been realized in fresh corpses, dissecting the principal above-mentioned structures. We present an iconographic of the facial implied muscles, emphasizing in his descriptive and functional anatomy, as well as a recollection of the principal problematic areas for some special circumstance (presence of a sensory or motor nerve). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the analgesic effect of NMDA antagonist receptors, the nociceptive action of the peptide BLMP-101 is evaluated, agonist of NMDA, designed to boost learning/memory. 32 Wistar rats (male and female) were divided into four groups and were injected IP with different BLMP-101 doses (0.01 mg, 0.1 mg, and 0.5 mg) and a control group with physiological saline solution, during 11 days. Daily behavior of animals was registered 15 minutes after injection, and appearance of 26 nociceptive related variables was checked. Data was analyzed by mixed variance with α < 0.05. No important alterations were found. Results suggest that the BLMP-101 peptide does not present nociceptive activity at levels and periodicity used in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]