Jaw‐neck movement integration in 6‐year‐old children differs from that of adults

Abstract

Background A functional integration between the jaw and neck regions during purposive jaw movements is well described in adults, but there is a lack of knowledge of such integration during jaw function in children. Objectives To determine the movement integration between the jaw and neck during jaw motor tasks in 6‐year‐olds, whether there is a difference between children and adults. Methods Jaw and neck movements were recorded with an optoelectronic 3D system in 25 healthy 6‐year‐olds (12 girls, 13 boys) and 24 healthy adults (12 women, 12 men) during paced jaw opening‐closing and self‐paced gum chewing. Jaw and neck movement amplitudes, intra‐individual variation in movement amplitude, ratio between neck‐jaw movement amplitudes and movement cycle time were analysed. Differences between children and adults were evaluated with Mann‐Whitney U test for independent samples. Results Compared to adults, 6‐year‐old children showed larger neck movement amplitudes (P = .008) during chewing, higher intra‐individual variability in amplitudes of jaw (P = .008) and neck (P = .001) movements, higher ratio between neck‐jaw movement amplitudes for jaw opening‐closing (P = .026) and chewing (P = .003), and longer jaw movement cycle time (P ≤ .0001) during the jaw opening‐closing task. Conclusion Despite integrated jaw‐neck movements in 6‐year‐old children, the movement pattern differs from that of adults and may be interpreted as an immature programming of jaw‐neck motor behaviour. The well‐integrated movements observed in adults most likely develop over years, perhaps into adolescence, and needs further research including well‐controlled longitudinal studies to map this development in order to provide appropriate age‐related clinical treatment for functional disorders.

Development of integrated jaw–neck motor function in children at 6, 10 and 13 years of age compared to adults: A kinematic longitudinal study

“…6,31 When comparing jaw opening-closing and chewing tasks in the present study, the jaw-neck integration was task dependent for both children and adults. Larger head movement amplitudes during maximal jaw opening-closing tasks, compared to chewing, were previously reported for 6-year-old children and adults, 19 and were confirmed here in a longitudinal study design. In a developmental perspective, a strong functional linkage between the jaw and neck motor systems could be an efficient prerequisite that optimises the jaw opening ability and positioning of the gape to achieve specific skills in oral activities such as eating and speech behaviour.…”

“…Two studies on early childhood, 4-7 18 and 6 years of age, 19 observed that jaw opening-closing was accompanied by simultaneous neck extension-flexion. Moreover, the children typically displayed large variability in the jaw and head-neck movements.…”

Jaw‐neck motor function in the acute stage after whiplash trauma

“…In the present study of jaw‐neck function, the findings of smaller jaw amplitudes but no change in head amplitudes may seem contradictory. However, during natural jaw function, although the head movement is proportional to the jaw movement, head movement is considerably smaller, normally with a ratio between head and jaw movements of about 10%‐20% during maximal jaw opening 1,50 . This means, that during the jaw opening‐closing task performed in our study, the magnitude of head movements is considerably smaller than the movements performed during the maximal range of cervical movements examined by Sterling et al 47 and Fernandez‐Perez et al 46 in acute whiplash populations.…”

Hypothetical Model of How a Clinical Remount Procedure Benefits Patients with Existing Dentures: A Narrative Literature Review

“…In addition to TMDs, jaw movements were reported to have a close relationship with cervical muscles, even the body balance [ 63 , 64 ]. To the authors’ limited knowledge, though there are studies about the influences of dental occlusion on body balance [ 63 ], studies about denture occlusion and body balance are still scarce.…”