The study of comminution behavior of food on buccal and lingual side during mastication

In this study, we observed comminution behavior of food on buccal and lingual side by sieve method. Six dentate subjects participated in this study. Peanuts were used as the test food and chewed for 1-8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 strokes on their preferred chewing side. Peanuts were gathered separately from buccal and lingual sides after varying number of chewing strokes. The crushed peanuts were sieved through a stack of eight level sieves (0.85 to 5.6mm). The comminution of coarse particles above 4.75 mm was almost finished within 10 strokes. The dynamic change in the median particle size also disappeared about 10 strokes. This suggested that we should pay attention to the initial phase of the chewing when we observed about mastication. As a result, comminution behavior of lingual coarse particles better conformed to fluctuation of median particle sizes of whole mouth, expressing masticatory performance precisely, than that of buccal coarse particles.