2004 Volume 67 Issue 1 Pages 98-102
We evaluated the tongue contacts with tooth surfaces at rest and on swallowing in patients with mandibular prognathism and in normal subjects. The tongue forces at rest and on swallowing were measured at the cervix and near the edge of the lingual surface on the maxillary and mandibular left central incisors, and on the left first molars. The maximum force and time quadrature of the force on swallowing were recorded for all measurement points. The force at rest, maximum force, and time quadrature for mandibular prognathism patients were compared with those of normal subjects using the Student's t-test. At rest the tongue forces on the cervix and near the edge of the mandibular left central incisors in mandibular prognathism patients were larger than in the normal subjects. On swallowing, forces of all measurement items on the cervix of the mandibular first molars were larger in the mandibular prognathism patients, while those on the cervix of the maxillary central incisors were smaller. These results suggest that the tongue position of the mandibular prognathism patient is lower at rest and during swallowing.
