ELECCTROMYOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF CANINE GUIDANCE OCCLUSION AND BILATERAL BALANCED OCCLUSION IN THERMOPLASTIC COMPLETE DENTURES

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of two occlusal schemes; canine guidance occlusion and bilateral balanced occlusion on the masseter and temporalis muscle activity in thermoplastic complete dentures. Ten male completely edentulous patients whose ages ranged from 55 to 70 years were selected. Half of the selected patients received a thermoplastic complete denture with canine guidance occlusal scheme and the other half of the patients received a thermoplastic complete denture with bilateral balanced occlusal scheme. Electromyographic evaluation of the masseter and temporalis muscles, during chewing banana, peanut and carrot, was conducted on the patients after using their dentures for one month. Each occlusal scheme was then converted into the other scheme using the same dentures, and the procedure of evaluation was repeated after another one month. The data were collected, tabulated and analyzed by using Paired sample t-test. The results of this study showed that there was no significant difference between the canine guidance occlusal scheme and the bilateral balanced occlusal scheme in the electromyographic activity of both masseter and temporalis muscles during chewing all test foods. It was concluded that both bilateral balanced occlusion and canine guidance occlusion can be used successfully in thermoplastic complete dentures without affecting the masseter or temporalis muscle activity.