[Registration of the silent period in masseter muscles during study of the mandibular reflex]

Under the application of clinical electromyography, nowadays is more widely used reflex investigation, i.e., the investigation of the reflexes to the extension. In stomatognathic system is the most frequently applied the investigation of mandibular reflex. Silent period was registered during the investigation of mandibular reflex. Silent period is the reflex pause or the period of suppressive activity that is subsequent to some sort of stimuli during or following muscle contraction. In current dentistry, silent period, registered by electromyography, represents an important parameter in functional diagnosis. The aim of the study was to establish the duration of silent period in masseter muscles during the investigation of mandibular reflex in edentulous patients with the pair of newly made full dentures and in the subjects with natural healthy intact dentition, respectively. The investigation included 20 subjects of average age 44 years. The results of registered silent period during the investigation of mandibular reflex in edentulous patients had the lower values (18.21 ms) than in the subjects with healthy intact dentition and with a pair of newly made full dentures (20.51 ms), respectively, which have confirmed the physiologic time of the duration of silent period.