Assessment of repeatability of maximal occlusal force measured at regular time intervals

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in measuring maximal occlusal force in light of the advances in digitally supported dentistry. However, studies on the assessment of changes in maximum occlusal force are sparse.

The purpose of this clinical study was to assess the repeatability of maximal occlusal force measured at regular time intervals.

One hundred participants (50 male, 50 female, aged 20 to 36 years) with a complete dentition were recruited for this study. Group 15S, 30S, 1M, and 3M repeated occlusal force measurements after 15, 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 3 minutes, 5 or 6 times, respectively. Group 8H repeated occlusal force measurements 3 times a day in the morning, afternoon, and evening with intervals of 6 to 8 hours for 5 consecutive days, 15 times in total. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA and post hoc pairwise comparison with a Bonferroni adjustment was applied to assess the measurements.

In general, the measurements of repetition 1 were significantly lower than of repetition 2, 3, 4, or 5 (P<.05). Within groups, participants in Group 3M showed significantly higher occlusal force measurements in repetitions 3, 4, and 5 compared with repetition 1 (P<.05). The differences in these measurements were more pronounced in male participants.

The maximal occlusal force measured at regular time intervals showed a lack of repeatability. The first measurement showed a statistically significantly lower value compared with the second, third, fourth, and fifth measurements in the 5 consecutive measurements. The interval between measurements significantly affected the repeatability of maximum occlusal force measurements.