A REVIEW OF MASTICATORY ABILITY AND EFFICIENCY

Masticatory function can be assessed by chewing tests and questionnair es or personal interviews. Whereas the chewing tests allow the assessm ent of masticatory efficiency with some objectivity, questionnaires he lp evaluate a person's subjective responses about chewing ability. Epi demiologic studies indicate a subjective decrease in chewing ability w ith increasing degree of tooth loss, a trend that was confirmed in the literature. Of interest was that the subjective measures of masticato ry ability are often overrated when compared with the functional tests . Masticatory function is a patient factor rather than a parameter tha t prosthetic treatment can qualify. It depends on a variety of persona l and subjective factors that can hardly be influenced by the practiti oner. This article describes and discusses scientific sociophysiologic and biomedical approaches to evaluating masticatory function.