Chewing side preference and laterality in patients treated with unilateral posterior implant-supported fixed partial prostheses.

Background: It is not clear to what extent chewing is improved by unilateral oral rehabilitation with implant-supported fixed partial prostheses (ISFPPs).

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether patients treated with unilateral ISFPPs in the maxilla use their prostheses during mastication to the same extent as they used their contralateral natural teeth. A further aim was to investigate whether there is a correlation between preferred chewing side and laterality.

Effects of Chronic and Experimental Acute Masseter Pain on Precision Biting Behavior in Humans.

Chronic pain in the orofacial region is common worldwide. Pain seems to affect the jaw motor control. Hence, temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are often accompanied by pain upon chewing, restricted mouth opening and impaired maximal bite forces.

Perturbed oral motor control due to anesthesia during intraoral manipulation of food.

Sensory information from periodontal mechanoreceptors (PMRs) surrounding the roots of natural teeth is important for optimizing the positioning of food and adjustment of force vectors during precision biting. The present experiment was designed to test the hypothesis; that reduction of afferent inputs from the PMRs, by anesthesia, perturbs the oral fine motor control and related jaw movements during intraoral manipulation of morsels of food. Thirty healthy volunteers with a natural dentition were equally divided into experimental and control groups.

Fine motor control of the jaw following alteration of orofacial afferent inputs.

Objective: The study was designed to investigate if alteration of different orofacial afferent inputs would have different effects on oral fine motor control and to test the hypothesis that reduced afferent inputs will increase the variability of bite force values and jaw muscle activity, and repeated training with splitting of food morsel in conditions with reduced afferent inputs would decrease the variability and lead to optimization of bite force values and jaw muscle activity.

Material Methods: Forty-five healthy volunteers participated in a single experimental session and were equally divided into incisal, mucosal, and block anesthesia groups. The participants performed six series (with ten trials) of a standardized hold and split task after the intervention with local anesthesia was made in the respective groups.

Can short-term oral fine motor training affect precision of task performance and induce cortical plasticity of the jaw muscles?

The aim was to test the hypothesis that short-term oral sensorimotor training of the jaw muscles would increase the precision of task performance and induce neuroplastic changes in the corticomotor pathways, related to the masseter muscle. Fifteen healthy volunteers performed six series with ten trials of an oral sensorimotor task. The task was to manipulate and position a spherical chocolate candy in between the anterior teeth and split it into two equal halves.

Effects of experimental craniofacial pain on fine jaw motor control: a placebo-controlled double-blinded study.

The aim of the experiment was to test the hypothesis that experimental pain in the masseter muscle or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) would perturb the oral fine motor control, reflected in bigger variability of bite force values and jaw muscle activity, during repeated splitting of food morsels. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in four sessions. An intervention was made by injection of either 0.

Motor behavior during the first chewing cycle in subjects with fixed tooth- or implant-supported prostheses.

Objectives: Appropriate sensory information from periodontal mechanoreceptors (PMRs) is important for optimizing the positioning of food and adjustment of force vectors during precision biting. This study was designed to describe motor behavior during the first cycle of a natural chewing task and to evaluate the role of such sensory input in this behavior.

Material And Methods: While 10 subjects with natural dentition, 11 with bimaxillary fixed tooth-supported prostheses (TSP) and 10 with bimaxillary fixed implant-supported prostheses (ISP) (mean age 69 [range 61-83]) chewed a total of five hazelnuts, their vertical and lateral jaw movements were recorded.

Optimization of jaw muscle activity and fine motor control during repeated biting tasks.

Objective: To investigate if repeated holding and splitting of food morsel change the variability of force and jaw muscle activity in participants with natural dentition.

Methods: Twenty healthy volunteers (mean age=26.2±3.

Clinical advantages of computer-guided implant placement: a systematic review.

Objectives: To systematically scrutinize the current scientific literature regarding the clinical advantages of computer guidance of implant placement.

Materials And Methods: Four electronic databases were searched using specified indexing terms. The reference lists of publications were also searched manually.

Alterations in intraoral manipulation and splitting of food by subjects with tooth- or implant-supported fixed prostheses.

Objectives: Sensory information provided by the periodontal mechanoreceptors (PMRs) is used by the nervous system to optimize the positioning of food, force levels, and force vectors involved in biting. The aim of this study was to describe motor performance during a novel manipulation-and-split task and to assess the extent to which control of this performance involves information from the PMRs.

Materials And Methods: A total of 10 subjects with natural teeth, 10 with bimaxillary tooth-supported fixed prostheses (TSP) and 10 with bimaxillary implant-supported fixed prostheses (ISP) (61-83 [mean 69] years of age) were asked to perform an intraoral manipulation-and-split task that involved positioning a spherical chocolate dragée between the front teeth and then splitting it into two parts of equal size.

Impaired force control during food holding and biting in subjects with tooth- or implant-supported fixed prostheses.

Aim: Our goal here was to assess the ability of subjects with their natural teeth (natural), bimaxillary tooth-supported bridges (bridge) and bimaxillary implant-supported bridges (implant) to control the low contact and high biting forces associated with holding and splitting food between the teeth.

Materials And Methods: Ten subjects in each of these groups performed a task involving holding and splitting morsels of food with different degrees of hardness (biscuits and peanuts) between a pair of opposing central incisors.

Results: The hold force employed by the implant group was significantly higher and more variable than the corresponding force exerted by the bridge group, whereas the natural group used lowest and least variable force.

Regulation of bite force increase during splitting of food.

The purpose of the study was to analyze how increases in the bite force, during the splitting of food morsels of different hardness, are modulated, and to evaluate the role of periodontal mechanoreceptors in this control. Fifteen subjects were instructed to hold and split food morsels of different hardness (peanuts and biscuits) between a pair of opposing central incisors before and during anesthesia of the teeth. The split occurred at an average bite force of 9 N for biscuits and at an average bite force of 18 N for peanuts.

Forces applied by anterior and posterior teeth and roles of periodontal afferents during hold-and-split tasks in human subjects.

Hold-and-split tasks were performed by 20 subjects (12 females and 8 males) using the right central incisors, canines, 2nd premolars, and 1st molars, respectively. Half a peanut was positioned on a transducer-equipped plate and the subject was instructed to hold the plate with the peanut between two antagonistic teeth, and not using more force than necessary. After ca.

Impaired masticatory behavior in subjects with reduced periodontal tissue support.

Background: Mechanoreceptors situated in the periodontal ligament provide detailed information about intensive and spatial aspects of tooth loads, which support the neural control of masticatory forces. We asked whether a reduced periodontal ligament due to periodontitis, and, thus, an altered mechanoreceptive innervation of the teeth, would affect masticatory behavior when subjects used incisors to hold and split food.

Methods: We tested 11 subjects with reduced periodontal tissue support that rendered 30% to 70% alveolar bone loss for at least one pair of opposing anterior incisors.