Intradental mechano-nociceptors serve as sentinels that prevent tooth damage.

ABSTRACT: The trigeminal sensory neurons that innervate the tooth's vital interior-intradental neurons-are expected to drive severe pain, yet their contribution to healthy tooth sensation has not been explored. Here, we uncover a role for myelinated high-threshold mechano-nociceptors (intradental HTMRs) in tooth protection using in vivo Ca²⁺ imaging, opto-/chemogenetics, and the AI-driven behavioral analysis tool LabGym. Intradental HTMRs innervate the inner dentin through overlapping receptive fields and respond as the external structures of the tooth are damaged in the absence of either PIEZO2 or Na_v1.8. Whereas chemogenetic activation of intradental HTMRs results in a pain phenotype marked by facial and postural changes, their transient optogenetic activation triggers a rapi

SUBMITTER: Ronan EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12442953 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature