Reproducibility of the normalized electromyographic recordings of the masseter muscle by using the EMG recording during maximal clenching as a standard.
A method of normalizing the integrated EMG recordings from the masseter muscles is introduced. For each subject investigated the maximal clenching force is remarkably constant and reproducible. This makes it possible to normalize the integrated EMG recordings to the EMG activity at the maximal clenching force without having to measure this force at the beginning of every experiment. These normalized integrated EMG activities give a good quantitative impression of the static force exerted by the masseter muscle, and therefore can be compared quantitatively over several experiments. The realtionship between the normalized integrated EMG activities and the clenching force is linear up to approximately 80% of the maximal clenching force.
D002012:Bruxism / Q000503:physiopathology; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008410:Masticatory Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction