Balance in masticatory muscle activity during natural chewing and submaximal clenching

The balance in the electromyographic (EMG) activities of the left and the right masseter and the left and right anterior temporal muscles during chewing and during submaximal clenching at 10% and 50% of the maximum voluntary contraction in the inter-cuspal position was investigated in twenty healthy adults. Muscular asymmetry patterns during chewing and clenching were positively correlated for both pairs of masticatory muscles investigated at the 50% level (P less than 0.01-P less than 0.001) and for the masseter muscles, also at the 10% level (P less than 0.01). Stronger correlations in muscular asymmetry were found for the masseter muscles and at the higher submaximal clenching level. In general, the masseter muscles displayed a greater degree of asymmetric activity than the anterior temporal muscles during both chewing and clenching (0.05 less than P less than 0.1-P less than 0.025). The average EMG amplitudes of both masseter or both anterior temporal muscles within each subject showed no correlation between clenching and chewing. The correlations between muscular asymmetries observed during static (clenching) and dynamic (chewing) conditions suggest that there are common factors influencing these activities.