Avaliação da influência da posição da cabeça nos potenciais bioelétricos dos músculos mastigatórios

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the influence that head position, during mastication, may have on the cranio-cervico-mandibular complex, particularly in terms of the masticatory muscles. MethodsThe study involved twenty-one young students from the Faculty of Dental Medicine of Oporto University, healthy individuals, without temporomandibular disorders (confirmed by the Research Diagnosis Criteria/Temporomandibular Disorders) and with full dentition. This was a convenience sample. Bioelectrical potentials were recorded from the masseter and anterior temporalis, when chewing carrot, peanuts, gum and chewy hard candy (Sugus®) in three different head positions, controlled by an accelerometer. The data were collected by BioEMGII software, from BioReserch, and in a SPSS database we proceeded to the standardization of the electromiographic records and also to apply different statistical tests (U Mann-Whitney test and Friedman test, with statistical significance of 95%) to verify if the differences were significant or not. ResultsThere were significant differences in muscle activity during chewing some food, when chewed with the head in a horizontal position, retro or pro-tilted. Women have a higher recruitment of muscle activity than man. ConclusionThe position of the head has, in fact, influence on the amount of muscle activity required, noticing that the muscle activity was higher when the head was in a horizontal position and lower in pro-tilted position.