Reflexes Elicitable in Jaw Muscles and Their Role During Jaw Function and Dysfunction: A Review of the Literature: Part III. Reflexes in Human Jaw Muscles During Function and Dysfunction of the Masticatory System

Abstract

The enormous amount of literature on jaw function, swallowing, and respiration reflects the complexity of orofacial function. This article, the last in a series of three, describes observed reflexes in jaw muscles and their relationship to functional and dysfunctional states of the masticatory system. The previous articles have dealt with the central mechanisms of jaw movement (with an overview of the oral receptors involved) and with the central connections of orofacial afferent fibers.

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Antoon De Laat

Antoon De Laat, L.D.S., Ph.D.

Dr. De Laat received his L.D.S. degree from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, in 1980. After a two-year period of combined periodontal training and general practice, he returned to the same university, where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1985. Dr. De Laat is currently working in the TMJ clinic (Department of Oral Surgery and Department of Prosthodontics) and the Laboratory of Oral Physiology (Department of Periodontology) of the School for Dentistry, Oral Pathology and Oral Surgery, Catholic University of Leuven. He is a member of the Belgian Dental Society, the Belgian Society of Periodontology, the Dutch Society of Oral Biology, the International Association of Dental Research, the International Association for the Study of Pain, the International Society of Oral Physiology (Store-Kro), and the American Equilibration Society. He has presented research papers at a number of international congresses and has published numerous articles in major journals in the field of neurophysiology, oral physiology, and TMJ dysfunction.