Evaluation of biting performance with standardized test‐foods

Abstract

Human masseter muscle is the main power source used for crushing or grinding the foods. Its size is regarded as an determining factor of chewing force and function. A system of measuring the masseter muscle volume from MR images was developed in this study. For a better understanding of the masseter muscle function, a standardized test-food developed in our laboratory was used. Twelve male subjects having complete dentition and healthy masticatory function were used to chew the test-foods. The EMG muscle activity of the masseter muscle during breaking and chewing the test-foods was observed. It was found that the muscle volume was positively related to the body size. The increase of the muscle activity during breaking and chewing was almost parallel to the increase of the test-food hardness, and the increase was mostly in the duration of muscle contraction. It was concluded that the measurement of masseter muscle volume is possible, and our test-foods can be used for chewing function examination with high reliability. Within a certain level of hardness, harder food requires longer muscle contraction time instead of stronger muscle force to break and chew the food.

An insight into the masticatory performance of complete denture wearer

“…It was suggested that the size of the masseter muscle is a determining factor of chewing force and function (57). But, the authors found that the muscle power exerted in the test is not closely related to the muscle size.…”

“…Mixture of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO) 3 A mixture of CaCO 3, microcrystalline cellulose and a small amount of MgO were used as ingredients of test food (57). These mixtures were produced in tablet form with different hardness but with similar texture and appearance.…”

Eletromiografia de superfície do músculo masseter durante a mastigação: uma revisão sistemática

“…Other researchers 9,19,20 electromyographic analysis of the stipulated 15 chewing strokes, as well as the electrical events observed during 15 seconds of the masseter chewing raisins. Other authors evaluated the chewing in free time [11][12][13][14][15]17 . This variation of the execution time of electromyographic acquisitions contribute to the prevention of comparison between studies.…”

“…It was also observed a preference for studies with individuals of male gender [11][12][13][14][15] in 42% of the studies, while populations consist of both genders were elected by 58% of the authors. No article investigated the events in isolation of their goals in a women group.…”

“…The fact that they study more the male population may be related to the amount of variables that affect the hormonal in women 16 also being extensively explored in the literature that female muscular activity levels are lower when compared to male 4 . The location of publication, it was found that 50% of articles were published in periodics Europeus 10,12,14,15,17,18 . Other publications occurred in American journals (USA -50%, Brazil -50%) 11,13,19,20 .…”