Effect of Excessive Chewing on Pain Thresholds
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Pain and dysfunction in the jaw region may be related to fatigue and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) following overstrain. The aim was to investigate development and course of subjective muscle fatigue, pain intensity, together with pressure pain thresholds (PPT) over the masseter and temporalis muscles during a 24-hour period in healthy men and women after an intense chewing task. Twenty healthy subjects (ten males and ten females) chewed seven pieces of hard chewing gum (ELMA) for 10 minutes at the pace of 80 beats per minute on their preferred chewing side. PPT at the temporalis, masseter were measured with an algometer before chewing (baseline), directly after, one hour after and 24 hours after chewing. Subjective fatigue and pain intensity were rated on a numerical rating scale (NRS). All subjects managed to complete the chewing task. The results showed that for both men and women, self-rated fatigue and pain intensity levels peaked directly after chewing and returned close to baseline values after one hour. The masseter PPT levels were significantly reduced one hour after chewing. Directly after chewing, the temporal muscle PPT increased significantly in men but not in women. Compared to women, men had higher PPT directly after chewing in both the masseter and temporal muscle sites. The results indicate that that intense chewing induces transient subjective local fatigue and pain but not DOMS in healthy subjects. Pressure pain thresholds remained fairly stable among women whereas a tendency for increased thresholds directly after the exercise was observed in men.
Authors: Johan Glas, Anders Rohlin
Language: English
Subfield: Oral Surgery
Field: Dentistry
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W640752367