For pain research, the orofacial region is unique in a number of ways. The region has complex local anatomy, including substantial sensory innervation from neural pathways, and muscles of facial expression that convey important information concerning pain intensity and associated psychological traits. Although chronic orofacial pain conditions appear prevalent, useful documentation on pain intensity ratings using well established instruments is sparse. In particular, two conditions, atypical facial pain and atypical odontalgia, are poorly understood in aetiology so that definitive treatment modalities are severely limited. The region's local biofluid, saliva, has been used to diagnose various local and systemic disease states, and to quantitate drug concentrations. However, recent studies indicate that saliva also contains some of the same peptides, e.g. bradykinin, that are involved in pain mechanisms. It may be that pharmacological-pharmacokinetic studies of these peptides could shed more information on thesignificance of their presence in saliva. This thesis consists of four major sections. Section 1 comprises of three clinical studies investigating orofacial pain. Section 2 deals with clinical laboratory studies of saliva. Section 3 is concerned with the development of chromatographic methods to assay bradykinin and its pharmacokinetics in saliva. Section 4 uses chromatography for the identification of novel salivary peptides. This thesis, then, presents clinical studies of orofacial pain and pharmacological investigations of saliva as the local biofluid.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 11, 2008). Directed by G. Brent Dawson; submitted to the Dept. of Chemistry. Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-69).

Thesis (M.S.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-85).

Diss. (sammanfattning). Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2002. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2004. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning). Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Lic.-avh. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 2 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2003. / "A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Science), School of Science, Food and Horticulture, University of Western Sydney, Richmond, New South Wales, Australia. December 2003". CD "attached to back cover of thesis is in Super Video-CD (SVCD) format showing the development of viscous fingering in realtime." Bibliography : leaves 135 - 147.

Thesis (PhD (Paraclinical Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.