Electromyographic power spectrum of jaw muscles during clenching in unilateral temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis patients

Summary  The relationship between temporomandibular joints (TMJ) osteoarthritis and masticatory muscle disorders is poorly understood. The data are sparse, the results are conflicting, and electromyographic (EMG) power spectrum analysis has not been used. The aims of this study were to compare the differences in EMG power spectrum during, and pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) before and after, sustained clenching in patients with unilateral TMJ osteoarthritis and healthy control subjects. Nineteen patients with unilateral TMJ osteoarthritis without masticatory muscle pain and 20 control subjects were evaluated. We measured EMG amplitudes at maximum voluntary contraction, median frequency from the EMG power spectrum during sustained clenching at 70% and PPTs before and after the clenching in both temporalis and masseter muscles. There were no significant differences in PPT decrease between muscles or between groups during sustained clenching. There were no significant differences in maximum voluntary contraction EMG activity ratios of affected to unaffected sides between groups, or of masseter to temporalis muscles between affected and unaffected side of patients with TMJ osteoarthritis. Median frequencies decreased from the beginning to the end of the sustained clench, and the interaction between group and clench was significant: the median frequency decrease was larger in the osteoarthritis group. Our results suggested that masticatory muscles of patients with unilateral TMJ osteoarthritis are more easily fatigued during sustained clenching than normal subjects.