Abstract
Previous studies showed the occluding area, which crushes the food in the dental arch, is fixed and it mainly involves the first molar in adults. This study was conducted to investigate the change of the occluding area according to dental stage of children. All of the subjects were divided into six groups according to Hellman's dental stage. The subjects were asked to clench freely a temporary stopping®as a test food placed on their tongues for five trials. The most frequent clenching area in each subject was defined as the main occluding area at mastication. The results were follows:
1. The main occluding areas in mastication from stage II A to stage IIIA were the primary molars. This changed from the primary molars to the first molars because of exfoliation of the second primary molars. After that, the area was that of the first molar. However, the occluding area in children was not so constant as in adults.
2. The main occluding area changed according to dental stage in children, which suggested the change of the main occluding at mastication according to dental stage could be used as an indicator of the development of the masticatory function.
