Hydra, a simple freshwater animal famous for its regenerative capabilities, must tear a hole through its epithelial tissue each time it opens its mouth. The feeding response of Hydra has been well-characterized physiologically and is regarded as a classical model system for environmental chemical biology. However, due to a lack of in vivo labeling and imaging tools, the biomechanics of mouth op...

OBJECTIVES The principle of leverage to superpose the convex surfaces of two shells was applied to develop a device for treating limitation of mouth opening and called it the "shell-shaped mouth opener" and analyzed pressure on the teeth with the TheraBite(®) appliance and the shell-shaped mouth opening appliance. MATERIAL AND METHODS To compare the TheraBite(®) appliance and the shell-shaped...

BACKGROUND Autologous adipose tissue injection is used in plastic surgery for correction of localized tissue atrophy and has also been successfully offered for treatment of localized scleroderma. We aimed to evaluate whether patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and facial handicap could also benefit from this therapy. METHODS We included 14 patients (mean age of 53.8 ± 9.6 years) suffering ...

OBJECTIVE A maximum mouth opening that is smaller than the size of a complete denture can make prosthetic treatment challenging. This article describes a simple technique used to fabricate maxillary and mandibular custom sectional impression trays for making definitive impressions in patients with microstomia.

BACKGROUND The authors hypothesized that craniocervical extension occurs during normal mouth opening. METHODS Twenty volunteers were studied. Interdental distance was measured at four different degrees of craniocervical extension. RESULTS Interdental distance increased from 28 mm (95% confidence interval, 25-30) in slight flexion to 46 mm (95% confidence interval, 42-49) at full extension. ...

Introduction: Myofascial Pain Dysfunction Syndrome (MPDS) is one of the most important causes of the orofacial pain. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate 40 related variables in this regard. Materials and Methods: Thirty nine patients with MPDS were evaluated in this study. Different factors including age, gender, occupation, marital status, sensitivity of masticatory muscles, maxi...

Mouth opening was measured in 43 children anaesthetized with isoflurane and paralysed with vecuronium or suxamethonium. Measurements of mouth opening were made for up to 10 min after loss of the adductor pollicis twitch and cessation of muscle fasciculations. In 22 patients receiving suxamethonium, a significant (P less than 0.001) reduction in mean mouth opening occurred in the 60 s after loss...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a 4-week program of active condylar rotation exercise on the extent of the lateral mandibular shift during mouth opening in patients with temporomandibular disorder. [Subjects and Methods] Patients with temporomandibular disorder (n = 12; 7 men and 5 women) were recruited. The active range of temporomandibular motion was record...

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the length of the lingual frenulum and craniofacial morphology and test the hypothesis that skeletal Class III malocclusion is related to tongue-tie, in which the lingual frenulum is short and restricts the mobility of the tongue. METHODS The sample consisted of 50 skeletal Class I patients (0° < ANB angle < 4°),...