A Study on Developmental Changes of Masticatory Function in Children

The purposes of this study were to examine the differences in masticatory function of children with different dental stages when they chew pieces of chewing gum with various volume and hardness, and to examine the relationships of the number of chewing strokes to masticatory efficiency as well as maximum bite force. Forty-six children (7.9±2.4 years old) and eleven adults (28.5±7.1 years old) participated in this study. The subjects chewed three pieces of colorchangeable chewing gum with different volumes and one piece of hard gum and the number of chewing strokes per minute, masticatory efficiency, and maximum bite force were determined. It was concluded that the 'adaptability' of masticatory function of children to the different volume and hardness increased with the development. Significant correlation was found between the ratio of the number of chewing strokes in hard gum chewing to that in soft gum chewing and the maximum bite force of children with deciduous dentition.