Masticatory muscles and mandibular bone growth

It is well known that bone density is well controlled by muscular systems and its biomechanical environment in living individuals. Investigating the growth changes in mandibular bone mineralization leads to further understanding of masticatory functions. On the other hand, medical imaging system such as computed tomography (CT) have provided a method to not only assess the infrastructure, but to quantify the bone. In our previous studies, we introduced a new calibration phantom developed from a Ca compound for applying quantitative computed tomography to the human craniomandibular skeleton (Maki et al., 1997). With this technique, the growth changes in three-dimensional distribution of the highest mineralized cortical bone of the mandible and relationship between muscle function were evaluated in this study.