A new evaluation method for masticatory performance

本研究旨在建立一种新的咀嚼功能评价方法。实验过程如下：1）ATP-G是评价咀嚼能量消耗的最佳试剂。2）对18例正常牙合（男）和11例异常牙合（女）的受试者应用该方法进行检测。异常咬合组的a^* 平均数为34.24，明显低于正常咬合组（P<0.05）。本研究表明，口香糖法是一种实用、可靠的咀嚼效能评价方法。

The aim of this project was to develop a new method for evaluation of the efficiency of masticatory function. The procedure of the experiments are as follows:1) ATP-G was the most favorable agent for evaluation of energy consumed during mastication. The new method using chewing gum which was specially made to change the color by chewing and is measured by red chromatisity(a^*).2) We applied this method to the subjects who had normal occlusion (18males)and abnormal occlusion(11females). The mean number of a^* in the abnormal occlusion group indicated as 34.24 which was sigificantly lower than that of in the normal group(p<0.05). The present study showed that the gum method is practical and reliable for evaluation of the masticatory performance compared to the methods.