Age-dependent changes in thermoperception in human anterior teeth.

Subjects (110) divided into three different age groups participated in a follow-up study investigating thermoperception in human anterior teeth. Deciduous teeth (51) were tested in 17 children (3.7 +/- 0.5 yr) and a total of 531 permanent teeth in two other groups of subjects: older children with an average age of 12.4 +/- 1.9 yr and adults with an age of 44.7 +/- 11.7 yr. In all three populations, the subjects' ability in cold perception in teeth was determinable. No data were obtained, however, to prove the existence of a corresponding warm perception. The differences in percentages of correctly-identified cold stimuli and in recorded mean latencies proved to be age-dependent. Variations in degree of dental decay and prior dental therapy did not show a significant effect on cold perception. No differences were found in the data obtained from female and male volunteers.