1997 Volume 41 Issue 5 Pages 774-786
An investigation was made on the effects of teeth splint for a certain period on masticatory movement.
The changing profile of each parameter was observed and the results were analyzed according to the method of canonical correlation analysis for two variable groups of pathway parameters and electromyograph parameters for every subject.
From the daily changes in the mean value ±S.D. of each constituent variable for masticatory pathways and muscle activity, it was found that the effects immediately and one day after the splint were larger on mastication of the habituated side than of the non-habituated side.
The conditions became stable more than 3 days after splinting. There were large individual differences before splinting in the correlation between the masticatory pathways and muscle activities.
All of the subjects showed a great change in the correlation immediately following splinting of teeth, resulting in their stable conditions with time.
From these results, it was concluded that splinting of teeth was one of the factors which might change the masticatory movements peculiar to an individual and such changes lead to their stable conditions with time.
