The purpose of the study was to find evidence of how different types of foo
d consistency affect chewing motions, especially the forward, downward and
sidewise extents of motion of the lower jaw. Nineteen individuals with inta
ct tooth sequence, aged from 20 to 37 years, were asked to chew three types
of food of different consistency (banana, bread carrot). The motions of th
e lower jaw were recorded by ELITE system, i.e. the measurement instrument
that by stereo-photo-grametric procedures calculates space co-ordinates of
markers on faces of the study subjects. The system enables continuous recor
ding of lower jaw motions in three dimensions, without any possibility of t
he study subjects' influencing the operation of the instrument, which signi
ficantly decreases the possibility of error. Study results have shown that
in all 19 subjects a greater food consistency increases the extent of chewi
ng motion. In each individual study subject different average values were f
ound for equal shifts of lower jaw when chewing the same type of food. Alth
ough varying from subject to subject, the chewing cycle depends to a great
extent on food consistency. By increasing the consistency of a bite, the ex
tent of lower jaw motion has increased in every single study subject.