[Influences of changing vertical dimension, occlusal contacts of bite plane and body position on masticatory muscle activities].

The Bite plane therapy has been accepted to be useful for treatment of the patients with the stomatognathic dysfunction. The purpose of this study is to make clear the influences of changing the vertical dimension and occlusal contacts of the bite plane on masticatory muscle activities in order to improve the bite plane therapy. The full arch bite plane with an interincisal distance of 5 mm was fabricated for each one of 30 subjects without stomatognathic dysfunction. The EMG activities were recorded from the anterior part of the temporal muscles, the masseter muscles and the anterior belly of the digastric muscles bilaterally while the subject exerted tapping and maximal voluntary clenching in a postural position. Four kinds of experiments were performed as follows. In Exp. 1, integrated EMG activities of each muscle were compared with and without the bite plane. In Exp. 2, the influences of changing the vertical dimension of the bite plane (2.5 mm, 5 mm and 7.5 mm) were tested in 17 subjects. In Exp. 3, the influences of changing the location of occlusal contacts of the bite plane were studied in 12 subjects. In Exp. 4, the influence of changing the body positions on EMG activities and mandibular positions was compared in 30 subjects between the sitting and supine positions. Furthermore, the influence of the same factor was compared with and without the bite plane which was adjusted in each position. The results were summarized as follows: 1. Wearing the bite plane mainly reduced activities of the temporal muscles. 2. The bite plane with an interincisal distance of 5 mm was most effective in reducing activities of the temporal muscles. 3. Wearing the bite plane with anterior occlusal contacts reduced activities of the elevator muscles significantly. 4. Significant differences in activities of the temporal and digastric muscles were recognized between the two body positions when the bite plane was not applied. However, no significant difference was recognized when the bite plane was inserted. Furthermore, those differences were correlated with the difference in the antero-posterior mandibular displacement between the two body positions while the subject tapped the teeth. These results suggest the possibility to control masticatory muscle activities by applying the bite plane with the proper vertical dimension and occlusal contacts. In addition, it is necessary to take a suitable body position for the patient who has a difference in the mandibular displacement between the sitting and supine positions when applying the bite plane.