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Effect of occlusal interference on habitual activity of human masseter
A Michelotti1, M Farella, L M Gallo
1Department of Dental and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Section of Orthodontics and Clinical Gnathology, School of Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, Via Pansini 5, I-80131 Naples, Italy. michelot@unina.it
Abstract:
It has been suggested that occlusal interference may increase habitual activity in the jaw muscles and may lead to temporomandibular disorders (TMD). We tested these hypotheses by means of a double-blind randomized crossover experiment carried out on 11 young healthy females. Strips of gold foil were glued either on a selected occlusal contact area (active interference) or on the vestibular surface of the same tooth (dummy interference) and left for 8 days each. Electromyographic masseter activity was recorded in the natural environment by portable recorders under interference-free, dummy-interference, and active-interference conditions. The active occlusal interference caused a significant reduction in the number of activity periods per hour and in their mean amplitude. The EMG activity did not change significantly during the dummy-interference condition. None of the subjects developed signs and/or symptoms of TMD throughout the whole study, and most of them adapted fairly well to the occlusal disturbance.
