Klemetti E, Heikelä E
Department of Prosthetics and Stomatognathic Physiology, University of Kuopio, Finland.
Cranio. 1995 Jul;13(3):173-6. doi: 10.1080/08869634.1995.11678064.
A total of 355 postmenopausal women were classified according to the degree of edentulousness, and anamnestic information on masticatory dysfunction symptoms was recorded. Five masticatory muscles were palpated, and the subjects were classified according to size of the masseter muscle. This simple classification for the clinical inspection of the masseter muscle was tested. In agreement with previous reports, decreasing functional exercise of the jaws was found to diminish the size of the masticatory muscles making them more disposed to dysfunction symptoms. The three-level classification of size of the masseter muscle is useful in normal clinical practice for determining the condition of this muscle.
