Importance of Osseoperception and Tactile Sensibility during Masticatory Function in Different Prosthetic Rehabilitations: A Review

Background and Objectives: Tactile sensibility is an important characteristic for evaluating the masticatory efficiency in different occlusal situations. When a tooth is extracted, relevant proprioceptors from the periodontal ligament get lost; and after the rehabilitation of this abscess by means of oral prosthesis, this sensibility decreases influencing masticatory function. Osseoperception is a sensitive phenomenon associated with dental implants that allows an increased tactile sensibility to those wearing implant prostheses. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in tactile sensibility values between implant prosthesis, complete dentures, and natural teeth through a review of the available literature. Materials and Methods. In order to dissect the information, 24 articles from 2004 to 2021 were analyzed from MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and Web of Science databases. These articles were directly related to measuring tactile sensibility in different situations and demonstrating the influence of osseoperception in an improved masticatory function. Results: Tactile sensibility in implant prosthesis is slightly reduced compared with natural dentition but presents improved values with regard to complete dentures. Conclusions: Implant prosthesis are more effective during masticatory function than complete dentures, as they present an increased tactile sensibility, very similar to that present in natural dentition. This enhanced sensibility in implants is due to the osseoperception phenomenon.

Prosthetic Management of Segmentally Resected Mandible and Partial Glossectomy: A Case Report

The balance and symmetry of mandibular function gets destroyed by the loss of continuity of the mandible, which deviates the residual fragment towards the resected side thereby altering the mandibular movements. Physical therapy in combination with prosthodontic treatment can be used to reduce the mandibular deviation and hence it improves the masticatory efficiency. Many prosthetic methods are discovered to minimize deviation and provide masticatory efficiency. Some of these methods are mandibular guide flange prosthesis, implant supported prosthesis and palatal guidance restoration. Contact of Tongue with palate is important for the production of normal speech, also the proper place of the tongue during certain sounds is important. In partial glossectomy conditions, tongue to palate articulation gets affected during speech and patient faces difficulty to pronounce certain sounds. For the rehabilitation of such patient thorough knowledge of the production of different sounds can be useful for diagnosis and treatment planning.

Clinical effectiveness of implant support for distal extension removable partial dentures: functional evaluation using occlusal force measurement and masticatory efficiency

Background Implant-supported removable partial dentures (ISRPD) are supported at the free-end region with implant retainers. As implant retainers prevent denture settlement and facilitate denture retention, this is intended to improve masticatory performance in comparison with that of conventional removable dentures. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of implant retainers at the free-end region of removable dentures on occlusal force and masticatory efficiency using a pressure-sensitive sheet, and measured glucose concentration in saliva after mastication with gummy candy. Methods In the present study, the occlusal force and masticatory efficiency of 13 subjects were measured in the following three conditions: without dentures (Condition 1), wearing dentures but not supported by implants (Condition 2), and wearing dentures supported by implants (ISRPD) (Condition 3). All data were statistically compared. Results Regarding the occlusal force, Condition 3 showed significantly higher scores than the other conditions; however, there were no significant differences between Conditions 1 and 2. Regarding the masticatory efficiency, Condition 3 showed significantly higher scores than Condition 2. Conclusions With ISRPD, the occlusal force and masticatory efficiency were increased in comparison with those with conventional removable dentures.

Tooth wear development in the Australian Aboriginal dentition from Yuendumu: A longitudinal study

The analysis of dental wear, at both the microscopic and macroscopic scale, is one of the most widely used tools in archeology and anthropology to reconstruct the diet and lifestyle of past human populations. Biomechanical studies have indicated that tooth wear helps to dissipate the mechanical load over the crown surface, thus reducing the risk of tooth fracture. To date, there are only a few studies that have examined functional tooth wear variation in modern humans. Here we propose to study masticatory efficiency through the use of the Occlusal Fingerprint Analysis method, a well-developed digital approach that allows the reconstruction of the occlusal dynamics occurring during mastication. The aim of this study is to provide the first longitudinal quantitative data of molar and premolar macrowear patterns within a functional context. We examined the mixed and permanent dentition of one Australian Aboriginal child (from ages 8 to 17) from Yuendumu, using high-resolution surface scans of dental casts including both upper and lower arches. Our results suggest that the occlusal macrowear patterns of this individual did not significantly change through time. Occlusal contact parameters such as functional area, inclination and direction remain relatively unaltered throughout childhood and adolescence, indicating little change in the masticatory function of this individual. The functional tooth wear pattern in this individual did not change longitudinally indicating the degree of masticatory efficiency has most probably remained unaltered.

A colour-based image segmentation method for the measurement of masticatory performance in older adults

Masticatory efficiency in older adults is an important parameter for the assessment of their oral health and quality of life. This study presents a measurement method based on the automatic segmentation of two-coloured chewing gum based on a <em>K</em>-means clustering algorithm. The solution proposed aims to quantify the mixed areas of colour in order to evaluate masticatory performance in different dental conditions. The samples were provided by ‘two-colour mixing’ tests, currently the most used technique for the evaluation of masticatory efficacy, because of its simplicity, low acquisition times and reduced cost. The image analysis results demonstrated a high discriminative power, providing results in an automatic manner and reducing errors caused by manual segmentation. This approach thus provides a feasible and robust solution for the segmentation of chewed samples. Validation was carried out by means of a reference software, demonstrating a good correlation (<em>R</em>²= 0.64) and the higher sensitivity of the proposed method (+75 %). Tests on patients with different oral conditions demonstrated that the <em>K</em>-means segmentation method enabled the automatic classification of patients with different masticatory conditions, providing results in a shorter time period (20 chewing cycles instead of 50).