Study for the effects of different sensory-evaluated food textures on the pattern of masticatory mandibular movements

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This study aimed to investigate the effects of different sensory-evaluated food textures with onomatopoetic words on masticatory movements, and to identify meaningful factors that correspond to different food textures. Three healthy subjects were evaluated masticatory movements with a jaw movement tracking device in 6 degrees of freedom using five different test foods: almond, hard and light rice crackers for hard foods, apple and chewing gum for soft foods. The movements of the incisor point, working and non-working condyle and the entire mandible at the occlusal phase were analyzed.When chewing apple, the opening paths of the incisor in the frontal plane turned towards the working side, while the paths of 4 other foods were toward the non-working side. For harder foods, the incisor entered the intercuspal position from a rear and lateral in the horizontal plane, the working condyle showed anterior and noticeable medial movements as entire mandible translated posteriorly and medially. For soft foods, the incisor movements were nearly coincidental with the lateral border movements in the horizontal plane, and the mandible rotated around the working condyle to the inner side. Although the overall paths of the mandibular movements are individually different, it appears that jaw movement at final closure in the horizontal plane is peculiar to the texture of the food.From the standpoint of mandibular movements, it is suggested that analysis of masticatory movements during the occlusal phase in the horizontal plane is useful for revealing the relationship between the occlusal sensory system and food texture.