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Updated: Dec 9, 2025
Extraction of the EPP Component from the Surface EMG
Published on: December 16, 2009
Muscular pattern in patients with temporomandibular joint disc displacement with reduction: an electromyographical
P Di Giacomo1, G Ferrato1, E Serritella2
1DDS, Ph.D Department of Oral and Maxillo-facial Sciences, Sapienza, University of Rome.
Objective:
Surface Electromyography of masticatory muscles (sEMG) is used as a tool to support diagnosis and treatment of Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The study aimed at examining jaw muscles pattern in individuals with temporomandibular joint disc displacement with reduction (TMJ/DDR). This sort of subjects was supposed to have a different muscular pattern compared to the control group.
Materials And Methods:
Sixty-four women with unilateral TMJ/DDR and forty TMD-free women underwent a sEMG assessment of masticatory muscles. Descriptive statistics were performed. Student T-Test assessed differences between the two groups. Statistical significance was set at ρ < 0.05.
Result:
The t-test showed statistically significant results only in BAR and SMI scores (ρ value < 0,0001). The other measurements did not differ between the two groups. BAR index values of all healthy subjects were within the reference range. Almost the entire TMJ/DDR group had BAR index out of reference range and anteriorly placed.
Conclusion:
Women with TMJ/DDR showed an altered recruitment of the jaw muscles, with significant difference between the activity of the couple of temporalis and the one of masseters, compared to the control group. A lower chewing efficiency was found in the DDR group compared to the control one.
