Abstract
Twelve normal dentate young males with a subjective symptom of clenching during physical exercise were used to investigate the clenching force, the masticatory muscle activity, the elbow flexion strength and the biceps brachial muscle activity at horizontally different mandibular positions. The clenching force was measured by the sensor using the newly developed pressure sensitive conductive silicone rubber sheet. This sensor was a 20-mm square of this rubber sheet placed between the copper foil contact plate the electrode and polyimide resin as electrical insulation.
The results were as follows:
1) There were individual variations in clenching and the subjects were divided into two groups, the hard clenching group (58.9-85.3 kgf) and the soft clenching group (4.9-13.2 kgf).
2) In the hard clenching group, the maximum clenching force was recorded at the tapping point and its standard deviation was minimum.
3) The maximum elbow flexion strength was recorded at the tapping point in both groups.
4) In the hard clenching group, the correlation coefficient between the clenching force and the elbow flexion strength was statistically significant (r= 0.69, p<0.01). On the other hand, it was not statistically significant in the soft clenching group (r=0.04, p>0.05).
In this study, the occlusal function is suggested to be closely related to physical exercise.
