Effects of oral rehabilitation with new conventional complete dentures on bite force and electromyographic amplitude of suprahyoid and sternocleidomastoid muscles and their correlation with vertical occlusal dimension.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of oral rehabilitation with complete dentures on bite force and electromyography of the suprahyoid and sternocleidomastoid muscles, and their correlation with OVD. Materials and Methods: Patients wearers of unsatisfactory removable complete dentures were attended in three sessions (T0, T1 and T2). At T0, while the patients still wore the old dentures, they were submitted to bite force and surface electromyographic exams of the suprahyoid and sternocleidomastoid muscles. These exams were repeated and the OVD was measured while the patients wore their old and new prostheses, 30 days after insertion of the new prosthesis (T1). The exams were repeated 100 days after the insertion of the new prosthesis (T2). The data were submitted to the Shapiro- Wilk normality test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlation and linear regression, all with 5% significance. Results: Fifteen patients participated in the study. No statistically significant difference was observed for bite force or electromyography in T0, T1, or T2. However, the correlation and regression tests showed important interactions between the OVD and bite force, as well as the OVD and electromyography during deglutition for the suprahyoid muscles. Conclusion: Rehabilitation did not impact bite force nor the activity of the assessed muscles (electromyography). On the other hand, OVD was shown to be an important factor for bite force, and deglutition of water after rehabilitation. (AU)