Clinical significance of bite force reproduction ability

The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of measurement of bite force reproduction ability. This parameter was measured at reference force levels of 2, 10, and 50 N in a group of patients with articular and nonarticular temporomandibular disorders and in a control group. The ability to reproduce the reference forces was measured at four equidistant occasions. All subjects poorly and imprecisely reproduced the reference force levels. A trend in the matches or in their imprecision could not be found (P greater than 0.05). Bite force reproduction ability did not differ between the patient group and the control group (P greater than 0.05). It was concluded that measurement of bite force reproduction ability does not provide a useful clinical assessment tool.