[Physiological duration of the silent period in masticatory muscles]

"Silent period" is the reflex pause or the period of suppressive activity that is subsequent to some sort of stimuli during or after the muscle contraction. In current dentistry, "silent period" registered by electromyography presents in functional diagnosis one of the parameters in revealing the functional disturbances of neuromuscular system. The aim of the study was to investigate the physiological duration of "silent period" in masticatory muscles. The group of examinees comprised 4 males and 4 females of average age 29 years. All the examinees were with healthy stomatognathic system and natural dentition. "Silent period" was registered by the apparatus "Medlec" Mystro-MS 20 using intramuscular electrodes. The results of the investigation indicated the different duration of physiological "silent period", depended on the type of investigated muscle.