AOB-2934; No.

of Pages 7

archives of oral biology xxx (2012) xxx–xxx

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

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Association between occlusal curvature and masticatory

movements with different test foods in human young adults
with permanent dentitions

Kenji Fueki *, Eiko Yoshida, Kota Okano, Yoshimasa Igarashi

Department of Masticatory Function Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-
5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8549, Japan

article info abstract

Article history: Objective: Occlusal curvatures such as the curve of Spee, curve of Wilson and Monsons’s
Accepted 10 December 2012 sphere exist in the human adult mandibular arch. A previous study showed that human
young adults with flatter occlusal curvatures had higher ability of food comminution and
Keywords: mixing. The aim of this study was to clarify functional significance of occlusal curvatures in
Occlusal curvature terms of masticatory movements. This study investigated the association between occlusal
Broadrick flag curvature and mandibular movements while chewing a variety of food items.
Mastication Design: Forty-six young adults with complete dentitions (mean age, 25.0 years) participated
Mandibular movement in the study. Sphere radius of occlusal curvature was determined by a three-dimensional
Food texture analysis of the mandibular arch based on the Broadrick flag method. Mandibular move-
ments during unilateral chewing of six test food items (chewing gum, cheese, kamaboko,
boiled beef, gummy jelly and raw carrot) until the subjects felt ready to swallow were
recorded using a six-degrees-of-freedom mandibular movement recording system, and 11
parameters for masticatory movements of a lower incisal point of the mandible were
analysed.
Results: Linear regression analyses identified the sphere radius as a significant predictor for
closing velocity in all test food items, occluding/cycle duration in 3 items, opening velocity,
closing duration and chewing time in 2 items, and opening duration in 1 item (P < 0.01). The
results suggest that subjects with larger sphere radius (flatter occlusal curvature) in the
mandibular arch could prepare food bolus effectively for swallowing.
Conclusion: Occlusal curvature seems to be associated with masticatory movements in
young adults with permanent dentition.
# 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

frontal view, the mediolateral curve along the buccal and

1. Introduction
Occlusal curvatures are normally observed in the human adult
dentition. In sagittal view, the anteroposterior curve that
contacts the tips of buccal cusps of mandibular molars and
canine, and appears concave, is called the curve of Spee.1 In
lingual cusp tips of mandibular molars on each side of the
arch, which is also concave, is called the curve of Wilson.2
Monson proposed a concept that the sagittal and frontal
curves form a sphere with 4-in. radius (Monsons’s sphere).3
It is believed that occlusal curvatures are associated with
contacts between maxillary and mandibular posterior teeth in

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 3 5803 5514; fax: +81 3 5803 5514.
E-mail address: kunfu.rpro@tmd.ac.jp (K. Fueki).
0003–9969/$ – see front matter # 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.12.006

Please cite this article in press as: Fueki K, et al. Association between occlusal curvature and masticatory movements with different test foods in
human young adults with permanent dentitions. Archives of Oral Biology (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.12.006
AOB-2934; No. of Pages 7
2 archives of oral biology xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
eccentric movements. The curve of Spee may permit disclu-
sion of posterior teeth in protrusive mandibular movement4,5
and the curve of Wilson may allow lateral disclusion.6 Thus, it
is possible that the occlusal curvatures are associated with
masticatory function. However, there is limited evidence
regarding this. A study on primates suggested that orientation
of the masseter muscle is related to curve of Spee and that it
affects bite force in food comminution.7
Occlusal curvature can be reconstructed by prosthetic
restoration. The Broadrick flag (Broadrick Occlusal Plane
Analyzer; Teledyne Water Pik, Fort Collins, CO) is utilized
for analysing the existing occlusal plane or reconstructing the
posterior dentition using Monsons’s 4-in. sphere as an ideal
occlusal plane for providing harmonious occlusion. However,
it is not well known whether occlusal curvature is associated
with masticatory function.
Recently, cross-sectional studies on human adults showed
that occlusal curvatures were associated with masticatory
function with respect to bite force,8 food comminuting, and
mixing ability.9 Subjects with three-dimensionally flatter
occlusal curvatures in mandibular arch showed greater force
during maximal voluntary clenching,8 higher ability of commi-
nuting peanuts and mixing a wax cube.9 On the other hand,
some studies have shown that masticatory movement param-
eters are predictors for food comminuting and mixing ability.10–
13
Greater vertical amplitude and closing velocity of mandibular
movements while chewing test foods were related to higher
ability of food comminution10,11 and food mixing.12,13 Thus, it
can be hypothesized that subjects with flatter occlusal
curvatures would show masticatory movements with greater
vertical amplitude and faster closing velocity for chewing
stroke. In addition, it is not clear whether subjects with flatter
occlusal curvatures could prepare food bolus for swallowing
with less number of chewing strokes and chewing time. It is well
known that masticatory movement patterns are affected by
food type14 and property such as hardness.15,16 The association
between occlusal curvature and masticatory function may be
mediated by food type. In fact, the chewing ability for a hard
food (peanuts) was strongly related to occlusal curvature
compared to mixing ability of a soft wax.9 Therefore, we
employed a variety of food items for chewing test. The aim of
this study was to investigate the association between occlusal
curvature and masticatory movements in human young adults.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Subjects
Forty-six subjects (21 females, 25 males, mean age 25.0 years,
range 20–32 years), with completely natural dentition and Angle
Class I molar relationship, participated in this study. They were
recruited from among the students and clinical staff of Tokyo
Medical and Dental University and had participated in a
previous study.9 Subjects with severe periodontal disease,
orthodontic treatment and clinical signs or symptoms of
temporomandibular disorder and salivary dysfunction were
excluded. Each subject received a written and oral description of
the experimental procedure, and informed consent was
obtained prior to enrolment into the study.
Please cite this article in press as: Fueki K, et al. Association between occlusal curvature and masticatory movements with different test foods in
human young adults with permanent dentitions. Archives of Oral Biology (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.12.006
2.2. Occlusal curvature
A three-dimensional analysis was performed to determine
occlusal curvature using a method validated in a previous
study.17 The procedure is described briefly as follows. Upper
and lower dental casts of each subject were mounted on a
semi-adjustable articulator. The mandibular cast mounted on
the lower member of the articulator was fixed to a three-
dimensional measuring gauge (QM-measure 353, Mitsutoyo
Mfg., Tokyo, Japan). The coordinates of the mid-points of the
canine cusps, and the buccal and lingual cusps of the
premolars, first and second molars were measured and
digitized. The mandibular arches were mathematically ori-
ented according to a common intrinsic orientation (y-axis,
antero-posterior; x-axis, right-left; and z-axis, caudo-cranial).
The approximate spheres were calculated from the measure-
ments according to the Broadrick Occlusal Plane Analyzer
(Denar Corporation, Anaheim, CA, USA)6,17–19 using a custom
made software. For each arch in the subject, the three-
dimensional curvature of the occlusal surfaces was modelled
using a sphere. The radius of the sphere was estimated using a
special computer program. The sphere was set to cross the
coordinates of canine and second molar disto-buccal cusps.
The radius was estimated using progressive approximations
that minimized the sum of the squared differences between
the distances from the premolar and molar cusp tips to the
centre of the fitted sphere. The sphere radius (SR) (mm) was
determined on the right and left sides of the mandibular
dental arch (Fig. 1), and it was used as an index for occlusal
curvature in this study. Since SR showed asymmetric
distribution,9 statistical analyses were conducted after loga-
rithmic transformation of the data.
2.3. Test food items
Test food items with a variety of textures such as chewing gum
(Free zone, LOTTE Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan), processed cheese
(Q.B.B. Cheese, Rokko Butter Co., Ltd., Kobe, Japan), kamaboko
(Kibun Foods Inc., Tokyo, Japan), boiled shank beef (80 8C,
30 min), gummy jelly (UHA Mikakuto Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan)
and raw carrot, were offered to subjects. The chewing gum has
a soft texture and can be easily chewed by denture wearers.
The weight of the chewing gum was 2 g, which was
recommended by other researchers since the 2-g bolus of
soft gum provides the least within-subject variability.20,21
Kamaboko is a Japanese traditional food made of boiled surimi
(fish myofibrillar proteins) and it has soft and elastic texture
like gelatine. The gummy jelly used in this study was
developed for evaluation of masticatory performance and it
has elastic and tough texture.22,23 The cheese, kamaboko,
boiled beef, raw carrot and gummy jelly were prepared with
dimensions 10 mm  10 mm  20 mm that corresponded to
the volume of chewing gum (2.0 g).
2.4. Assessment of hardness of the test food items
Subjective (perceptive) hardness of the test foods was
examined using a method applied in a previous study.24
Twelve subjects with compete dentition were asked to bite
down on a test piece once, between the molar teeth on their
AOB-2934; No. of Pages 7
archives of oral biology xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
Sagittal view Frontal view
o o
SR SR
Mid-sagittal plane
Fig. 1 – Schematic representation for determination of
occlusal curvature. Mid-sagittal plane equally divides a
line that connects both condyles. We hypothesized that a
sphere of which the centre (O) was located on the mid-
sagittal plane and distance from the centre to canine was
equal to that from the centre to distal-buccal cusp of
second molar. The radius was estimated using
progressive approximations that minimized the sum of
the squared differences between the distances from the
premolar and molar cusp tips. The sphere radius (SR) was
used as an index for occlusal curvature.
preferred chewing side, evaluating how hard the food item
was to bite on. A 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS) was used
to measure subjective hardness. The anchor on the left end of
the VAS was defined as ‘very soft’, and the anchor on the right
end of the VAS indicated ‘very hard’. Subjects were instructed
to mark a vertical line at a point on the VAS indicating the
appropriate hardness for each test piece. Three trials were
performed for each test food in each subject, and the mean
score was used for statistical analyses. Objective hardness of
the test foods was measured using an instrument.24 The
instrument measured the force while compressing a test piece
from the original thickness (10 mm) to 40% (4 mm) with
10 mm/s crosshead speed, and the peak force was defined as
objective hardness. Five pieces of each test food were
examined and the mean score was used for statistical
analyses.
2.5. Recording of masticatory movements
A six-degrees-of-freedom opto-electronic system (Gnatho-
hexagraph System Ver. 1.31, Ono Sokki Co., Kanagawa, Japan)
was used to measure three-dimensional movements of an
arbitrary point on the mandible.12 A face bow (12 g) with three
LEDs was attached to the labial surface of the lower incisors
with a crutch, and a head frame (170 g) with three LEDs was
placed on the head parallel to the Frankfort Horizontal plane
using a headband. The three-dimensional positions of each of
the six LEDs were measured using two CCD cameras placed
1.2 m in front of the subject. The three-dimensional position of
a mandibular central incisor point was recorded as a reference
point using a pointer with two LEDs prior to perform chewing
Please cite this article in press as: Fueki K, et al. Association between occlusal curvature and masticatory movements with different test foods in
human young adults with permanent dentitions. Archives of Oral Biology (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.12.006
3
test. The mean (standard deviation: SD) measurement error in
a measurement range (140-mm cube) was 150 (10) mm.25
Subjects were seated comfortably in an upright position in
a dental chair in an electrically shielded room. A piece of test
food was placed on the tongue of each subject and subjects
were asked to perform maximum intercuspation. This
position was recorded as centric occluding (CO) position.
Initially, the chewing gum was offered to subjects and it was
chewed for 1 min for adaptation of recording of masticatory
movements. Then, subjects were asked to chew the chewing
gum unilaterally for 10 s for data collection. Following gum
chewing, the 5 test food items were offered randomly to the
subjects using an envelope method, and subjects were asked
to chew each test piece unilaterally until they felt ready to
swallow. Three trials were performed for each test food in
each subject.
2.6. Analysis of masticatory movements
The measured data were digitized at 89.4 Hz and stored in a
personal computer for subsequent analysis. Commercial
software (Gnatho-analyzer Ono Sokki Co., Kanagawa, Japan)
computed three-dimensional movements of the mandibular
central incisor point, and automatically identified each
chewing cycle. A chewing cycle was broken into three
(open–close–occlusal) phases. A slice level to determine
occlusal phase was determined as vertical displacement of
0.7 mm below the CO position. The starting time of closing
phase (the finishing time of opening phase) was defined as the
time of maximum vertical displacement in each chewing
cycle. Opening duration, closing duration and occlusal dura-
tion were measured, and they were summed for cycle
duration, for each chewing cycle.
The following parameters were computed for each chew-
ing stroke. Vertical amplitude was defined as the vertical
distance between CO position and the position at the
maximum jaw gape of each chewing cycle. The anteroposter-
ior (AP) amplitude was defined as the anteroposterior distance
between the most anterior position and the most posterior
position of each chewing cycle. The lateral amplitude was
defined as the lateral distance between the positions of the
maximum lateral displacements to the right and left sides.
Velocity was computed with first-order derivative of vertical
displacement, and maximum velocities were determined in
the opening phase and closing phase for each chewing cycle.
These masticatory movement parameters were averaged for
all chewing strokes. Chewing time was measured as the total
time from the starting of the first chewing cycle to finishing of
the last chewing cycle when the subjects felt ready to swallow
the food bolus. Number of the chewing strokes was counted as
the number from the first to the last chewing cycle. Since
subjects were indicated to chew gum for 10 s, the chewing
time and number of chewing strokes was not analysed for the
chewing gum. The average of three trials for each test food in
each subject was used for statistical analysis.
2.7. Statistical analysis
The difference in SR between males and females, and between
left and right sides was tested using two-way analysis of
AOB-2934; No. of Pages 7
4 archives of oral biology xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
Table 1 – Means (SD) of sphere radius (mm).
Female (n = 21) Male (n = 25)
Right 122 (56) 154 (72)
Left 102 (43) 140 (61)
Two-way ANOVA.
Gender effect (F = 8.9, P = 0.004), side effect (F = 1.9, P = 0.17),
interaction (side  gender) (F = 0.3, P = 0.59).
variance (ANOVA). The effect of the food type on subjective
hardness (VAS score) was tested using repeated measures
one-way ANOVA. The effect of the food type on objective
hardness was tested using one-way ANOVA. Tukey’s test was
used for post hoc multiple comparisons in VAS score and
objective hardness between the test foods. The effects of the
food type and chewing side on masticatory movement
parameters were tested using repeated measures two-way
ANOVA.
Linear regression models were constructed to test associa-
tion between SR and each masticatory movement parameter
for each test food. The null hypothesis in this study was that
SR was not associated with any parameters of masticatory
movements. In regression analyses, masticatory movement
parameters for each test food were included in the model as
outcome measures. SR, gender and chewing side were
considered as possible predictors for the masticatory move-
ment parameters. SPSS 11.5 J (SPSS, Tokyo, Japan) was used for
the statistical analyses. P-values <0.05 were considered
significant for ANOVA and post hoc multiple comparisons,
and <0.01 for regression analyses.
3. Results
The median SR was 112 mm (male, 125 mm; female, 100 mm).
The mean (SD) SR by gender and arch side is presented in Table
1. ANOVA showed that the mean SR for males was
significantly larger than for females (P = 0.004). The difference
between left and right sides of the mandibular arch, and the
interaction (arch side  gender) was not significant (P > 0.05).
Mean (SD) VAS score and objective hardness of the test
foods are presented in Table 2. ANOVA found significant
differences among test food items in VAS score and objective
hardness (P < 0.001). Mean VAS scores for chewing gum,
cheese and kamaboko were significantly less than those for
raw carrot, boiled beef and gummy jelly (P < 0.05). Raw carrot
showed the highest mean objective hardness followed by
boiled beef, cheese, gummy jelly, kamaboko and chewing gum
(P < 0.05).
Table 2 – Means (SD) of subjective hardness (VAS score) and objective hardness of the test foods.
Cheese Kamaboko
VAS score (mm) 12 (7) a 13 (7) a
Objective hardness (N/cm2) 7.8 (0.7) a 3.4 (0.2) a
Repeated measures one-way ANOVA for VAS score (F = 100.9, P < 0.001).
One-way ANOVA for objective hardness (F = 149.0, P < 0.001).
Different letters indicate significant difference (P < 0.05).
Please cite this article in press as: Fueki K, et al. Association between occlusal curvature and masticatory movements with different test foods in
human young adults with permanent dentitions. Archives of Oral Biology (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.12.006
Means (SD) of mandibular movements during chewing the
test foods are presented in Table 3. ANOVA found significant
effects of the food type on all mandibular movement
parameters (P < 0.01). Chewing side effect was significant in
all parameters (P < 0.05), except for AP amplitude and number
of chewing strokes. The interaction (food type  chewing side)
was not significant in all parameters (P > 0.05).
The results of the regression analyses are shown in Tables 4
and 5 (complete results are referred to Supplement Tables S1
and S2). Over all, subjects with larger SR tended to show
masticatory cycles with greater vertical and lateral amplitude,
faster opening/closing velocity, shorter opening/closing/oc-
cluding/cycle duration, and they tended to chew the test foods
until ready to swallow with less number of chewing strokes
and chewing time compared to those with smaller SR.
Statistically significant partial regression coefficients (b) for
SR were found in 3 hard/tough foods (carrot, gummy jelly and
boiled beef) in 2 parameters (closing velocity, and cycle
duration), in 2 of 3 hard/tough foods in 4 parameters (opening
velocity, closing/occluding duration and chewing time) and in
1 of 3 tough/hard foods in opening duration (P < 0.01) (Table 4).
Significant b value for SR was found in 3 soft foods (cheese,
kamaboko and chewing gum) in closing velocity and in 1 of 3
soft foods in occluding duration (P < 0.01) (Table 4). b value for
gender was significant in eight parameters (vertical amplitude,
opening/closing velocity, opening/closing/cycle duration,
chewing time and number of chewing strokes) (P < 0.01)
(Table 5). Lateral and AP amplitude, occluding duration did not
show significant b value for gender in all food items (P > 0.01)
(Table 5). None of the b value for chewing side was significant
in all food items in all parameters (P > 0.01).
Supplementary material related to this article found, in the
online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.
12.006.
4. Discussion
The results in this study showed that spherical radius was
significantly related to some parameters of masticatory
movements such as opening/closing velocity and closing/
occluding/cycle duration independent of gender difference,
which indicates that subjects with flatter occlusal curvature
chewed test foods with a faster chewing cycle. These results
support our hypothesis that occlusal curvature is associated
with masticatory movements. SR was significantly related to
closing velocity in all food items. Previous studies have shown
that faster closing velocity of mandibular movement during
chewing test foods was related to better food comminuting
Gum Beef Jelly Carrot
21 (1) a 56 (11) b 70 (20) c 75 (12) c
1.9 (0.1) a 13.0 (1.2) b 3.4 (0.3) a 108.6 (18.8) c
AOB-2934; No. of Pages 7

archives of oral biology xxx (2012) xxx–xxx 5

and mixing ability.10–13 Thus, our results suggest that subjects

F (side)a

58.8***

31.9***
31.2***

12.7***
10.7***
9.2***
9.4**
5.6*

5.5*
with flatter occlusal curvature (larger SR) can chew foods more

0.7

3.5
efficiently with faster closing mandibular motion. Further-
more, subjects with flatter occlusal curvature tended to chew
foods with less number of chewing strokes and chewing time
F (food)a

until they felt ready for swallowing. Subjects with flatter

66.4***
63.1***
98.0***
99.5***
83.9**
41.4**
10.0**
136.0**
97.0**
117.1**
28.3**
occlusal curvature demonstrated higher ability to comminute
and mix foods.9 Thus, it is possible that subjects with flatter
occlusal curvature could efficiently prepare the food bolus
ready for swallowing. Occlusal curvature can be reconstructed
5.5 (1.5) b, c

0.25 (0.07) d

25.1 (8.7) b, c
0.62 (0.12) b
0.18 (0.04) a

0.19 (0.04) a

15.62 (5.99) c
by prosthetic restoration. This study suggests complete
Raw carrot

140.7 (40.4) d
122.8 (37.5) b
6.7 (2.3) b
17.4 (3.1) c

dentures with flatter occlusal curvature may have some

advantages with respect to masticatory function. However,
the present study employed a cross-sectional design by which
true causal relations cannot be confirmed. Thus, it is not
known whether masticatory movement pattern could be
changed by alteration of occlusal curvature with prosthetic
Gummy jelly

6.5 (2.4) a, b

17.68 (6.16) d
0.22 (0.05) b
0.22 (0.05) b
0.22 (0.05) c
0.65 (0.13) c
122.6 (36.9) c
130.5 (41.0) c
6.1 (1.8) d
17.2 (3.5) c

26.6 (7.8) c

rehabilitation or orthodontic treatment. This limitation

should be noted when interpreting the results obtained in
this study.
It is well known that masticatory movements are
modulated with physical properties of foods.16 Thus, a
variety of food items were utilized to investigate the effect
0.63 (0.13) b, c

of food type on association between occlusal curvature and

Boiled beef

0.21 (0.05) b
0.22 (0.06) b
0.20 (0.05) b

19.89 (8.04) e
144.9 (39.5) d
149.3 (47.4) d

31.4 (10.8) d

masticatory movements. In accordance with previous

19.8 (3.4) d
6.4 (1.6) e
7.9 (5.8) c

studies,14 significant differences among test food items

were found in all mandibular movement parameters
(P < 0.01). Mandibular movement pattern is affected by
bolus size as well.20,21 Since we prepared the 6 test food
Table 3 – Means (SD) of mandibular movement parameters while chewing test foods.

items with an identical volume, it can be confirmed that the

0.24 (0.50) c, d
Chewing gum

mandibular movement patterns were modulated with

5.3 (1.8) a, b
6.1 (2.3) a, b

0.23 (0.04) d
0.72 (0.12) d
0.25 (0.06) c
106.3 (35.9) a
113.6 (40.0) a

different physical properties of the test food items.

16.5 (4.3) b

According to hardness of the test foods, they could be

separated into soft foods (cheese, gum and kamaboko) and
Interaction (food type  chewing side) was not significant in all parameters (P > 0.05).
–
–

hard/tough foods (raw carrot, gummy jelly and boiled beef).

Since gummy jelly has a high elastic property, it demon-
strated a low objective hardness (3.4 N) at 40% compression
13.84 (5.89) b
0.18 (0.04) a
0.20 (0.05) a
0.19 (0.06) a
0.57 (0.12) a
Kamaboko

rate, but substantially higher hardness (103 N) was mea-

113.7 (33.7) a
120.8 (35.6) c

23.9 (8.8) b
15.6 (3.0) a
5.0 (1.4) a
5.6 (2.0) a

sured at 95% compression rate.23 In the regression analyses,

soft foods demonstrated significant b value for SR in two
parameters (closing velocity and closing duration), while
hard/tough foods demonstrated significant b value in six
parameters (opening/closing velocity, closing/occluding/
Different letters indicate significant difference (P < 0.05).

cycle duration and chewing time). Flatter occlusal curvature

0.23 (0.06) b, c
0.19 (0.06) a

10.33 (4.03) a
0.24 (0.06) c

0.64 (0.14) c

may be useful to chew hard/tough foods in an efficient way,

113.8 (34.0) b
116.5 (38.2) a
Cheese

6.8 (2.4) b

15.8 (5.2) a
17.5 (3.5) c
5.5 (1.5) c

and it is possible that the hardness of foods mediates the

association between occlusal curvature and masticatory
function. Furthermore, not only hardness, but also various
Repeated measures two-way ANOVA.

physical properties such as elasticity and plasticity may

have influenced masticatory movements in the present
study. Thus, further studies are necessary to test this
Max. opening velocity (mm/s)
Max. closing velocity (mm/s)

hypothesis using model foods whose physical properties

Vertical amplitude (mm)
Lateral amplitude (mm)

can be controlled.
Occluding duration (s)
Opening duration (s)

Number of chewing

In the regression analyses, male subjects demonstrated

Closing duration (s)
AP amplitude (mm)

Cycle duration (s)

Chewing time (s)

significantly greater vertical amplitude, faster opening/closing

velocity and shorter opening/closing/cycle duration, chewing
P < 0.001.
P < 0.01.

time and less number of chewing strokes. These gender

P < 0.05.
strokes

differences agree with previous studies.26,27 Since gender

difference was found in SR as well, gender is a covariance for
***
**
a

Please cite this article in press as: Fueki K, et al. Association between occlusal curvature and masticatory movements with different test foods in
human young adults with permanent dentitions. Archives of Oral Biology (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.12.006
AOB-2934; No. of Pages 7

6 archives of oral biology xxx (2012) xxx–xxx

Table 4 – Standardized partial regression coefficients for sphere radius obtained from regression analyses.
Cheese Kamaboko Chewing gum Boiled beef Gummy jelly Raw carrot
Vertical amplitude 0.21 0.22 0.22 0.27 0.23 0.18
Lateral amplitude 0.12 0.08 0.22 0.15 0.08 0.06
AP amplitude 0.06 0.00 0.04 0.15 0.00 0.06
Max. opening velocity 0.22 0.24 0.19 0.37* 0.28* 0.19
Max. closing velocity 0.36* 0.35* 0.40** 0.42** 0.37** 0.37**
Opening duration 0.19 0.20 0.06 0.28* 0.22 0.20
Closing duration 0.27 0.22 0.23 0.32* 0.24 0.32*
Occluding duration 0.15 0.20 0.31* 0.34* 0.37* 0.16
Cycle duration 0.25 0.26 0.22 0.42** 0.38** 0.33*
Chewing time 0.21 0.16 – 0.11 0.32* 0.31*
Number of chewing strokes 0.08 0.06 – 0.09 0.15 0.20
*
P < 0.01.
**
P < 0.001.

Table 5 – Standardized partial regression coefficients for gender obtained from regression analyses.
Cheese Kamaboko Chewing gum Boiled beef Gummy jelly Raw carrot
Vertical amplitude 0.20 0.18 0.25 0.13 0.22 0.29*
Lateral amplitude 0.03 0.04 0.03 0.11 0.08 0.07
AP amplitude 0.03 0.06 0.04 0.18 0.03 0.07
Max. opening velocity 0.29* 0.36** 0.43** 0.37** 0.41** 0.40**
Max. closing velocity 0.19 0.22 0.29* 0.24 0.21 0.32*
Opening duration 0.34* 0.38** 0.37* 0.41** 0.35* 0.32*
Closing duration 0.25 0.21 0.28* 0.30* 0.21 0.18
Occluding duration 0.15 0.12 0.08 0.01 0.04 0.04
Cycle duration 0.29* 0.28* 0.32* 0.31* 0.20 0.22
Chewing time 0.25 0.35* – 0.43** 0.27* 0.40**
Number of chewing strokes 0.14 0.26 – 0.36* 0.13 0.32*
*
P < 0.01.
**
P < 0.001.

association between occlusal curvature and masticatory
movements.
Monson’s 4-in. sphere has been referred as an ideal occlusal
curvature in prosthetic rehabilitation.3 In the present study, the
median SR (112 mm) was similar to the value reported in the
previous study in Japanese young adults (110 mm),17 but it was
greater than 4 in. (102 mm) which was obtained in Caucasian
adults.18,28 In addition, SR showed a large inter-subject variation
and gender difference. Thus, Monson’s 4-in. sphere seems not
to be applicable as a reference for prosthetic reconstruction in
Japanese patients. On the other hand, only young adults were
included in the present study. It would be interesting if age-
related changes of occlusal curvatures could be investigated in a
longitudinal study.
In this study, a clutch was attached to mandibular incisors
for recording of masticatory movements. Although subjects
performed gum chewing with the clutch for adaptation, it may
have hindered normal masticatory movements. In addition,
subjects were asked to chew test foods unilaterally. The
unilateral chewing is different from free-side (natural) chew-
ing and concerns a minority of subjects. However, if free-side
chewing is performed in this study, it would be difficult to
interpret the effect of occlusal curvature of left and right side
arch respectively on masticatory movement.
This study focused on mandibular movement in respect of
masticatory function and it can be concluded that flatter
occlusal curvature is useful for chewing foods efficiently with
faster mandibular motion. However, it is unclear how the
subjects with flatter occlusal curvature demonstrated faster
masticatory movement pattern and greater chewing ability. It
has been shown that masticatory muscle activity during
chewing is related to food comminuting ability and food
mixing ability.11,29 A study on primates suggested that
orientation of the masseter muscle is related to curve of Spee
and it affects bite force in food comminution.7 Thus, muscle
activity during chewing may be associated with occlusal
curvature. Further studies on this hypothesis would be helpful
to understand how the occlusal curvature affects masticatory
function.
Funding
None.
Competing interest
None declared.
Ethical approval
Prior to beginning the study, approval of the Ethics Committee
of Tokyo Medical and Dental University had been obtained (no.
474).

Please cite this article in press as: Fueki K, et al. Association between occlusal curvature and masticatory movements with different test foods in
human young adults with permanent dentitions. Archives of Oral Biology (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.12.006
AOB-2934; No. of Pages 7
archives of oral biology xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Drs. K. Kagaya and K. Shoi for
their kind assistance with data collection and analyses.
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