The use of biofeedback to obtain jaw-muscle relaxation in denture-wearing subjects.
A group of ten edentulous patients, who had experienced persistent soreness of the mucous membrane underlying their lower dentures, have been shown to exhibit a tendency towards greater activity of the temporal muscle while ostensibly at rest, compared with a number of normal subjects. A biofeedback technique, based on electromyography, proved effective in teaching the patients to relax during an experiment of approximately 20 min duration. In contrast relatively little change could be achieved by the normal subjects. It is concluded that the results support the hypothesis that muscle tension may contribute to lower denture discomfort, and suggest that biofeedback muscle relaxation training may be a useful method of treatment in such cases.
D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D003826:Denture, Complete, Lower; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D008410:Masticatory Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D009126:Muscle Relaxation; D013703:Temporal Muscle / Q000502:physiology*