Muscular adaptation to gradual advancement of the mandible

Muscular activity of the superficial masseter muscle and anterior portion of the temporal muscle before, during, and after treatment, with gradual advancement of the mandible, was evaluated by assessing the average integrated electromyogram (EMG) with the mandible in retruded position (RP) and incisal edge-to-edge (EE) position on 23 consecutive subjects with skeletal Class II malocclusion. Toward the end of active treatment and follow-up, the RP position and EE position coincided. At any given registration, the EMG activity of the masseter muscle was at least twice (P < .001) that of the anterior portion of the temporal muscle. The EMG activity in RP for the anterior portion of the temporal muscle was not affected significantly, whereas the EMG activity at EE position decreased significantly (P < .05) during the initial treatment, but, thereafter, it increased continuously. The difference in EMG activity between six months of follow-up and pretreatment level reached statistical significance (P < .05). For the masseter muscle, the EMG activity at both RP and EE position was reduced about 20% during the initial treatment but returned to the pretreatment level during active treatment and exceeded pretreatment level by approximately 30% to 50% at two and six months of follow-up, respectively. In conclusion, it seemed that gradual advancement affected the anterior portion of the temporal muscle to a minor extent, whereas the effect on the masseter muscle was significant.