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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Craniofacial Biology and Dental Research
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1409005

Tongue and Jaw Movement Assessed by 3D Motion Capture during Gum Chewing

Provisionally accepted
Rikako Sato Rikako Sato 1Kazuhiro Hori Kazuhiro Hori 1*Shohei Kodama Shohei Kodama 1Jumpei Okawa Jumpei Okawa 1Kazuhiro Murakami Kazuhiro Murakami 1Takahiro Ono Takahiro Ono 2
  • 1 Niigata University, Niigata, Niigata, Japan
  • 2 Osaka Dental University, Hirakata, Ōsaka, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The tongue plays an important role in mastication, swallowing, and articulation, but it cannot be directly observed because of its location inside the oral cavity. This study aimed to clarify detailed 3D tongue movements during chewing using electromagnetic articulography (EMA).The participants were 10 healthy, young volunteers (average age 26.8 ± 2.1 years; 5 males, 5 females). Tongue and jaw movement during gum chewing was measured and recorded using EMA. Four EMA sensors were attached to the anterior, posterior, left, and right surfaces of the tongue, and one sensor was also attached to the mandibular left incisor. The tongue motion during the chewing cycle was spatially and sequentially analyzed based on the motion trajectories of the tongue and mandible.Results and Discussion: The tongue moved downward and to the masticatory side in a manner similar to the movement of the jaw. The anterior tongue marker moved downward to a greater extent than the other tongue markers. However, the tongue moved forward as the jaw moved backward. The anterior marker reached the most anterior position during the jaw-opening phase and the posterior markers reached the most anterior position during the jaw-closing phase. Just before maximum jawopening, all markers on the tongue reached the bottom lowest position. During the jaw-closing phase, the tongue reached the dominant farthest position in the masticatory side. All the markers reached the most posterior position during the occlusal phase.These findings demonstrate the sequence of tongue motion patterns during gum chewing.

    Keywords: Tongue movement, jaw movement, Three-dimension, chewing, Chewing cycle

    Received: 29 Mar 2024; Accepted: 12 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sato, Hori, Kodama, Okawa, Murakami and Ono. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kazuhiro Hori, Niigata University, Niigata, 950-2181, Niigata, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.