Assessment of Masseter Muscle Appearance and Thickness in Edentulous and Dentate Patients by Ultrasonography

The purpose of the present study was to examine ultrasonographic appearances of Masseter Muscle (MM) in dentate and edentulous patients without Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD). The thickness of the MM in 25 dentate (mean age: 30,68 ± 10,49) and 24 edentulous (mean age: 61,46 ± 9,71) patients, who visited routine dental examination, was measured at rest and at maximum contraction bilaterally. Examinations were performed using an Aloka Prosound α6 (Hitachi Aloka Medical Systems, Tokyo, Japan) equipped with an 8 MHz-wide bandwidth linear active matrix transducer (ranging from 1 to 15 MHz). The visibility and width of the internal echogenic bands of the MM were also assessed and the muscle appearance was classified as I of III types. Type I, characterized by the clear visibility of the fine bands; Type II, thickening echogenicity of the bands; Type III, disappearance or reduction in a number of the bands. MM thickness at rest and contraction in the dentate group were significantly higher than the edentulous group (