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Effects of interocclusal distance on bite force and masseter EMG in healthy participants
Author(s) -
Arima T.,
Takeuchi T.,
Honda K.,
Tomonaga A.,
Tanosoto T.,
Ohata N.,
Svensson P.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of oral rehabilitation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2842
pISSN - 0305-182X
DOI - 10.1111/joor.12097
Subject(s) - isometric exercise , bite force quotient , biting , masseter muscle , medicine , electromyography , molar , orthodontics , force transducer , dentistry , physical medicine and rehabilitation , physical therapy , ecology , physics , acoustics , biology
Summary The aim of this study was to investigate effects of interocclusal distance (IOD) on bite force and masseter electromyographic (EMG) activity during different isometric contraction tasks. Thirty‐one healthy participants (14 women and 17 men, 21·2 ± 1·8 years) were recruited. Maximal Voluntary Occlusal Bite Force (MVOBF) between the first molars and masseter EMG activity during all the isometric‐biting tasks were measured. The participants were asked to bite at submaximal levels of 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% MVOBF with the use of visual feedback. The thickness of the force transducer was set at 8, 12, 16 and 20 mm (= IOD), and sides were tested in random sequence. MVOBF was significantly higher at 8 mm compared with all other IODs ( P < 0·001). Only in women, IOD always had significant influence on the corresponding root‐mean‐square (RMS) value of EMG ( P < 0·011). When biting was performed on the ipsilateral side to the dominant hand, the working side consistently showed higher masseter EMG activity compared with the balancing side ( P < 0·020). On the contralateral side, there was no difference between the masseter EMG at any IODs. The results replicated the finding that higher occlusal forces can be generated between the first molars at shorter IODs. The new finding in this study was that an effect of hand dominance could be found on masseter muscle activity during isometric biting. This may suggest that there can be a general dominant side effect on human jaw muscles possibly reflecting differences in motor unit recruitment strategies.