Muscle function during chewing and swallowing in patients with osseointegrated oral implant bridges. An electromyographic study.

The activity of the anterior and posterior portions of the temporal muscle, the masseter and the upper lip has been studied with electromyography in 13 women with osseointegrated oral implant bridges and compared with that in 10 subjects with natural teeth. The functions examined were chewing and swallowing of apple, bread and peanuts. There was no difference between implant and control subjects in the number of chewing cycles nor in duration of the act of chewing or in the amplitude of the muscle activity during chewing and swallowing. However, the duration of the activity during chewing was longer in the implant than in the control subjects. The number of years of wearing a maxillary implant bridge was found to be of importance for the number of chewing cycles during an act of chewing and for the muscle activity during chewing. Other factors influencing the muscle activity were age, number of occluding tooth units and the extension of the lower implant bridge. It was concluded that patients with osseointegrated oral implant bridges have a masticatory muscle function equal to or approaching that in patients with natural teeth or with bridges supported on natural teeth with the same extension of the dentition.