MASTICATORY MUSCLE INFLUENCE ON CRANIOFACIAL GROWTH

The influence of the masticatory muscle function on craniofacial growt h has been recorded in a series of animal experimental and clinical st udies. The common characteristic of these investigations is that the e levator muscles of the mandible influence the transversal and the vert ical dimensions of the face. The increased loading of the jaws due to masticatory muscle hyperfunction may lead to increased sutural growth and bone apposition, resulting in turn in an increased transversal gro wth of the maxilla and broader bone bases for the dental arches. Furth ermore, an increase in the function of the masticatory muscles is asso ciated with anterior growth rotation pattern of the mandible and with well-developed angular, coronoid, and condylar processes.