Electromyography activities of facial and neck muscles in high-angle children

Objective: To investigate the electromyography activities of the facial and neck muscles with mandibular movement in high-angle children. Methods: A computer-integrated BioEMG II diagnostic system was used to synchronously record the electromyography activities of temporal anterior(TA), masseter Muscle(MM), sternocleidomastoid(SCM) and digastric anterior(DA) muscles with mandibular movement in 14 high-angle children and 16 normal-angle children. Results: Myo-musclar activity of TA, DA and SCM in high-angle children was significantly weaker than that of normal-angle children in the rest position(P<0.01,P<0.05). Activity of TA and MM in high-angle children was significantly weaker than that of normal-angle children in maximum clunch(P<0.05). MM showed significantly weaker activity in high-angle children than that of normal-angle children in the chewing gum movement(P<0.05). DA showed significantly weaker activity in high-angle children than that of normal-angle children in swallow(P<0.05). Conclusion: The electromyography activities of the facial and neck muscles with mandibular movement showed a significant difference between high-angle children and normal-angle children and may be related to vertical craniofacial morphology.