ArticleAnnals of medicine2023
Assessing thickness and stiffness of superficial/deep masticatory muscles in orofacial pain: an ultrasound and shear wave elastography study.
Article in Annals of medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ultrasonographic measurement of masseter muscle thickness and elasticity in patients with symptomatic apical periodontitis.Clinical oral investigations · 2026Article
- Transformative biomechanics and mechanobiology breakthroughs shaping the future of health and medicine.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2026Review
- Masticatory muscle stiffness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a cross-sectional study.BMC oral health · 2026Article
- Functional Effects of BoNT-A Application in Masseter Muscle in Patients with Symptoms of Bruxism.Toxins · 2025Article
- Role of the masseter, anterior temporalis, and sternocleidomastoid muscles in myofascial temporomandibular disorder pain: evaluation of thickness and stiffness by ultrasonography.Oral radiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Ultrasound Assessment of Facial and Neck Aging: A Noninvasive Approach to a Minimally Invasive Treatment.Journal of medical ultrasoundArticle
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionSonoelastography has been increasingly used for non-invasive evaluation of the mechanical features of human tissues. The interplay between orofacial pain and regional muscle activity appears clinically paramount, although only few imaging studies have investigated this association. Using shear wave sonoelastography (SWS), this study ascertained whether orofacial pain induced alterations in the stiffness of superficial and deep masticatory muscles.
methodsAll participants were systematically evaluated for oral/facial-related conditions, including the area and intensity of pain. SWS was applied to measure the stiffness of the bilateral masseter, temporalis, and lateral pterygoid muscles. The association between orofacial pain and muscle stiffness/thickness was investigated using a generalized estimating equation for adjusting the influence of age, sex, laterality, and body mass index on muscle thickness/stiffness.
resultsA total of 98 participants were included in the present study: 48 asymptomatic controls, 13 patients with unilateral pain, and 37 patients with bilateral orofacial pain. The reliability, quantified by the intraclass correlation coefficient for muscle stiffness measurement, ranged from 0.745 to 0.893. Orofacial pain at the individual muscle level was significantly associated with masseter muscle stiffness. A trend of increased stiffness (
conclusionsSWS provides reliable stiffness measurements for the superficial and deep masticatory muscles. The ipsilateral masseter and temporalis muscles might be stiffer than those on the side without orofacial pain. Future studies using the present sonoelasotography protocol can be designed to investigate the stiffness changes in the target muscles after interventions.
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