Wearables for personalized monitoring of masticatory muscle activity — opportunities, challenges, and the future

Abstract

Wearable devices are worn on or remain in close proximity of the human body. The use of wearable devices speci c to the orofacial region are steadily increasing. Orofacial applications of wearable devices include supplementing diagnosis, tracking treatment progress, monitoring patient compliance and understanding oral parafunctional behaviours. In this short communication, the role of wearable devices in advancing personalized dental medicine are highlighted with a speci c focus on masticatory muscle activity monitoring in naturalistic settings. Additionally, challenges, opportunities as well as future research areas for successful use of wearable devices for precise, personalized care of muscle disorders are discussed.

Surface Electromyography in Dentistry—Past, Present and Future

“…The reality of the above description may be due to the fact that the technology has steadily become more sophisticated over the years [ 174 , 175 ]: the original sEMG were not mobile, whereas the current ones are, and modern sensors are not only mobile, but the transmission range of the sEMG sensor is up to 40 m [ 35 , 170 ]. Research has already been published demonstrating the feasibility of analyzing masticatory muscle activity using smartphones [ 163 , 176 ].…”