The myothermal changes were investigated during clenching at centric occlusion in temporal and masseter muscles. Ten males (from 21 to 26 yrs.) volunteered as normal subjects.
At first, the deep temperature changes of the forehead area and the anterior temporal muscle were recorded at rest, during and after clenching. And then, changes of deep temperature in anterior temporal, posterior temporal, and masseter muscles were observed at rest, during and after clenching.
The results were obtained as followed:
1) At rest, the deep temperature of the temporal muscle was higher than that of the masseter muscle.
2) During clenching, the temperature rise of the masseter muscle was larger than that of the temporal muscle.
3) After clenching, no differences in temperature drop were found between muscles.
4) Concerning the selection of probe, PD-7 was suitable for the anterior temporal muscle, PD-1 for the posterior temporal and the masseter muscles.
