Purpose
To characterize the orofacial miofunctional aspects of patients with Parry-Romberg syndrome, using standardized clinical protocols and Surface Electromyography (sEMG) of the masticatory muscles.
Methods
Participants were four patients with Parry-Romberg syndrome and four healthy individuals, paired by age and gender, divided in two groups: Study Group (SG) and Control Group (CG), respectively. The groups were compared regarding performance during clinical examination - Orofacial Myofunctional Evaluation with Expanded Scores (OMES-E) and record of facial anthropometric measures and of jaw movements, and during an instrumental evaluation - Surface Electromyography (sEMG) of the masticatory muscles.
Results
Statistically significant differences between the groups were observed for the following variables: 1) numerical: mandibular lateral movement to the right, OMES-E posture/position and total score, 2) categorical: palate, behavior of the tongue during swallowing and chewing function. At sEMG no statistically significant differences were observed.
Conclusion
The present study is the first to evaluate the orofacial myofunctional system of individuals with Parry-Romberg syndrome using standardized protocols. Results indicate that these individuals present alterations specially when considering mandibular movements, tongue mobility during swallowing and chewing function.
Keywords
Speech, language and hearing sciences; Face; Facial hemiatrophy; Syndrome; Stomatognathic system
