Gender difference in masticatory performance in dentate adults

Abstract

Purpose: To clarify whether there might be a gender difference in masticatory performance in dentate adults.

Methods: Thirty male subjects and thirty female subjects were asked to chew gummy jelly on their habitual chewing side for 10, 15 and 20s and the amounts of glucose extraction were measured. The changes of both glucose extraction and standardized glucose extraction from 10 to 20s were investigated differently for males and females. The amount of glucose extraction was compared between males and females for each chewing duration. In addition, in order to confirm a gender difference in occlusal force, the maximum occlusal force was compared between males and females.

Results: For both males and females, the amount of glucose extraction was lowest for 10-s chewing and increased significantly for 15-s and 20-s chewing. The mean standardized glucose extraction values increased in proportion with the duration of chewing. The standard deviations of the standardized glucose extraction were very small (below 0.02) for all chewing durations in both males and females. With regard to comparison of the glucose extraction between males and females, the amount of glucose extraction was significantly larger for males than for females for all chewing durations. The maximum occlusal force was significantly larger for males.

Conclusion: It was suggested that it might be important to take into consideration gender-related differences while analyzing masticatory performance in dentate adults.