Behavioural responses to two different orofacial noxious stimulations were analysed following lesion of spinal trigeminal subnucleus oralis (Sp5O) in the rat. Lesions were obtained by intranuclear microinjections of quinolinic acid (0.4 microliter of 60 nmol/microliter solution). The control groups received microinjection of saline. Noxious stimulation was a subcutaneous injection of formalin into the upper lip or electrical stimulation of the tooth pulp. The measured behavioural responses were duration of rubbing induced by the formalin injection and thresholds of the jaw-opening reflex (JOR), head rotation (HR) and face rubbing (FR) evoked by the pulp stimulation. In addition, formalin injection was also performed in two groups of rats that had received intranuclear injection of quinolinic acid or saline into rostral subnucleus caudalis (Sp5C). Rubbing duration was not significantly modified by the lesion of Sp5O, whereas a significant decrease occurred after the lesion of rostral Sp5C. After the lesion of Sp5O, an increase in the threshold of JOR was observed whereas the thresholds of HR and FR were not significantly modified. These results suggest that Sp5O is not necessary for the processing and relay of nociceptive inputs triggered by intense stimulations of oral and perioral areas. However further experiments are needed to reconcile these results with the relevant data obtained from cell recording experiments which indicate the existence, in Sp5O, of neuronal activities related to the sensory discriminative aspect of intense nociception.