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The European Journal of Orthodontics Advance Access originally published online on August 5, 2009
The European Journal of Orthodontics 2009 31(6):596-612; doi:10.1093/ejo/cjp093
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Orthodontic Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

The adaptive response of jaw muscles to varying functional demands

Thorsten Grünheid*, Geerling E. J. Langenbach**, Joannes A. M. Korfage**, Andrej Zentner* and Theo M. G. J. van Eijden**

* Sections of Orthodontics
** Sections of Oral Cell Biology and Functional Anatomy, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), The Netherlands

Address for correspondence Dr Thorsten Grünheid, Department of General and Specialised Dentistry, Section of Orthodontics, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Louwesweg 1, 1066 EA Amsterdam, The Netherlands, E-mail: t.gruenheid{at}acta.nl


  Abstract

Jaw muscles are versatile entities that are able to adapt their anatomical characteristics, such as size, cross-sectional area, and fibre properties, to altered functional demands. The dynamic nature of muscle fibres allows them to change their phenotype to optimize the required contractile function while minimizing energy use. Changes in these anatomical parameters are associated with changes in neuromuscular activity as the pattern of muscle activation by the central nervous system plays an important role in the modulation of muscle properties.

This review summarizes the adaptive response of jaw muscles to various stimuli or perturbations in the orofacial system and addresses general changes in muscles as they adapt, specific adaptive changes in jaw muscles under various physiologic and pathologic conditions, and their adaptive response to non-surgical and surgical therapeutic interventions.

Although the jaw muscles are used concertedly in the masticatory system, their adaptive changes are not always uniform and vary with the nature, intensity, and duration of the stimulus. In general, stretch, increases neuromuscular activity, and resistance training result in hypertrophy, elicits increases in mitochondrial content and cross-sectional area of the fibres, and may change the fibre-type composition of the muscle towards a larger percentage of slow-type fibres. In contrast, changes in the opposite direction occur when neuromuscular activity is reduced, the muscle is immobilized in a shortened position, or paralysed. The broad range of stimuli that affect the properties of jaw muscles might help explain the large variability in the anatomical and physiological characteristics found among individuals, muscles, and muscle portions.


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