Masticatory muscle fatigue: endurance times and spectral changes in the electromyogram during the production of sustained bite forces.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the characteristics of fatigue observed in the limb muscle system are also evident in the muscles of mastication, specifically, the masseter and temporalis. Surface electrodes were placed bilaterally over the masseter and temporalis muscles of 10 adults. Each subject was instructed to maintain maximal and six levels of submaximal incisal bite forces for as long as possible. The power density spectrum of the electromyographic signals for each muscle was calculated at the onset and failure of the task. The decrease in endurance time with an increase in bite force followed a pattern similar to that in limb muscles, and each muscle was characterized by a consistent reduction in the mean power frequency of the power density spectrum and a variable change in r.m.s. power. The variability of changes in r.m.s. power (which is inconsistent with changes found in the limb muscles) was explained in terms of either changes in motor-unit firing rate or the muscle's relative contribution to the generation of bite force. The analyses also demonstrated a curvilinear relationship between bite force and r.m.s. power, but no relationship between bite force and the mean power frequency of the power density spectrum.