Correlation between Muscle Thickness and Bite Force in Children before and after Oral Rehabilitation – A Two Year Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the relation between bite force (BF) and muscle thickness before (T0) and after 6 (T6), 12 (T12) and 24 (T24) months of oral rehabilitation in 19 children (6-9 years-old) with early loss of primary teeth. BF was determined with a flexible pressurized transducer. Masseter and temporal muscle thickness was measured during relaxation and contraction bilaterally using Just-Vision 200 digital ultrasonography system. Statistical analysis between genders were done through unpaired t test or Mann- Whitney tests, ANOVA for repeated measurements was used for comparisons among evaluations, correlations were assessed by Pearson’s coefficients significant at the p 0.05). Concluding, there was an increase in bite force and masseter thickness during the first year after rehabilitation and there was also a relation between bite force and temporal thickness after rehabilitation, which suggests that the oral rehabilitation influenced the morphological and functional aspects of the muscles of mastication.