information on reviews amd abstracts should be directed to authors. Articles or books for review in this department shozlld be to Dr. J. A. SaBmann, 654 Madison Ave., New York 81, New York.
Abstracts of papers read before the 1963 meeting of the International
Association of
Cranio- f acial Biology Occluscd Tooth Function
By IIans
Contact
Graf,
Patterns
Eastmun
in Relation
Dental
to Electromyographic
Dispcnsar!y,
Rochcstcr,
Activity
During
N. 1’.
The physiology of mastication and its underlying llcuI’oII1Ils~1111ill’ IllCCllanismx are incompletely understood. Clink1 and evpcrimcntal observations prcscnt indirect evidence that occlusal contacts play an important role in 111~ rcflcs systems of the masticatory apparatus. Controversy has surroundc~l 111~ occurrence of tooth contacts per se durin, (7 functional movcmcnts, and I I~PI*(* is no published evidence of the precise jaw rclationships during such cont,acts or of their duration. The development of electronic techniques in t,hese studies made it possible to devise a method of accurately localizing tooth-contact areas and to record their frequency, distribution, and duration by means of miniat,urck radio transmit,ters incorporated in fixed bridges. The study oi’ nine adult subjects revealed functional tooth-contact pattoans with si@icunt differc~u~*cs in various occlusal jaw relationships. These patterns were rclatctl in time to facial movements as well as to electrical activit,y of tlic massctcr arid tcmptrrul muscles. The time relationship of occlusal tooth contact and ctlectronlyogr;~~,hic~ activity is constant in masticat,ion and swallowing of food. Thr onsc~t,of tooth cont,act is a suitable time reference from which clectromyo~~~aphic analysis can bc made. The relation of tooth contact lo electrical muscle activity in(~l*(‘as(~s 111~undrrstanding of the physiology of occlusion. Effect of Pharyngeal
Stimulation
Upon
Respiratory
Regulation
Electrical stimulation of the dorsal pharyngeal wall of the cat and dog at a frequency of 6 per second elicits two alternative pattclrns of rcspirat,or> i’o 1