Masticatory Side-switch and Mixing Ability.

The main aim of this cross-over intervention study is to assess the effect of masticatory side-switch frequency on different aspects of masticatory function, including masticatory mixing ability and rhythm. A secondary aim is to explore the subjective perception of taste, muscular fatigue, and saliva production through a VAS. Thirty-six volunteers recruited for convenience, among students of the Degree of Dentistry of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona, will perform 6 tests, each consisting of 2 assays, chewing a two-coloured chewing gum, during 40 masticatory cycles. The tests will be randomised masticatory sequences of "free-style", "unilateral-right", "unilateral-left", switching the chewing side at 5% "G05", at 15% "G15" and at 25% "G25". Video recordings of these tests will be made to later assess, on slow playback, the change of the chewing side and the masticatory rhythm. The masticatory mixing ability will be determined through the scanning and posterior analysis of the red-channel in the histogram plug-in in "ImageJ" (R).