Masticatory Performance and Efficiency

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Abstract
A method has been devised for measuring masticatory performance and efficiency. The masticatory performance was based on the percentage of masticated peanuts which would pass through a 10-mesh screen after being subjected to 20 masticatory strokes. Efficiency was calculated from the number of chews required to reach a desired degree of food pulverization. The performance was found to be independent of the size of mouthful as long as the number of chews was kept constant, and the chewing performance of uninstructed subjects approached that obtained when mastication was confined to their best half dentition. The particle size distribution was determined for peanuts masticated from 5 to 160 strokes. The distribution was linear when the data were plotted on logarithmic probability paper. As mastication proceeded the process gradually became selective in that larger particles disappeared more rapidly than would be expected on the basis of random grinding. The avg. performance of twenty-five cases with complete dentitions was 88%. Fifty half dentitions lacking the 3d molar averaged 78%. 25 half dentitions which possess 2 premolars and 1 molar in occlusion had a mean performance of 55%, and 30 denture cases averaged 35%.
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