Association between food mixing ability and electromyographic activity of jaw-closing muscles during chewing of a wax cube.

The purpose of this study was to clarify association between food mixing ability and activity of jaw-closing muscles during chewing of a wax cube. Twenty subjects with complete dentitions (mean age 24.1 years) were directed to chew a two-coloured paraffin wax cube for 10 strokes on preferred chewing side. Surface electromyograms (EMG) were recorded from the right and left masseter and anterior temporalis muscles during chewing of the wax cube. Maximum voltage, duration and muscle work for burst of each chewing cycle were measured on integrated EMG in each muscle. Food mixing ability was estimated as mixing ability index determined from the colour mixture and shape of the chewed wax cube. Some EMG parameters of all muscles except for masseter muscle on non-chewing side showed significant positive correlations with the mixing ability index (r = 0.45-0.56, P < 0.05). However, most of the EMG parameters correlated with one another. As a result, only muscle work of masseter muscle on the chewing side was identified as a significant predictor accounting for 28% interindividual variation in the mixing ability index (P < 0.01). These results suggest that activity of jaw-closing muscles during chewing the wax cube seems to be weakly related to food mixing ability.