ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Dentistry and Oromaxillofacial Surgery
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1625335
Characterizing Masticatory Motion of Dogs Using Optical and Electromagnetic Motion Tracking
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Veterinary Surgical and Radiologic Sciences, University of California-Davis, Davis, United States
- 2Minnesota Dental Research Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics, Minneapolis, United States
- 3Division of Operative Dentistry, Department of Restorative Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States
- 4Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States
- 5Division of Biomaterials, Department of Restorative Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States
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Accurate knowledge of masticatory motion across a variety of food materials is essential for ex-vivo testing and simulation of the food-teeth interaction. Yet, the masticatory motion has never been fully characterized in the domestic dog (Canis lupus), limiting our ability for ex-vivo modelling. The aim of this study was to characterize masticatory motion among a variety of different foods in beagle dogs using optical and electromagnetic motion tracking. We confirmed that the masticatory pattern in the beagle is a hinge motion with no clinically meaningful horizontal motion of the mandible. The mouth opening was not significantly difference among different food and treat types regardless of food stiffness and force to fracture of the food, with a mean and standard deviation of 2.51 ± 0.33 (range 1.93 -2.95) cm between the canine teeth during chewing. Conversely, frequency of chewing was influenced by food type, with kibbles having a significantly higher peak mean chewing frequency (2.93 Hz) compared to other feeds. Frequency of chewing was linearly correlated to the force to fracture of the food material (p = 0.03, R 2 = 0.56), while stiffness of food did not significantly affect peak chewing frequency. Data from this study can guide ex-vivo modelling of the feed-teeth interaction for product design and testing, especially those that focus on prevention of periodontal disease and dentoalveolar trauma.
Keywords: Chewing1, Masticatory motion2, Mastication3, dogs4, Teeth5
Received: 08 May 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Goldschmidt, Chew, Guy and Fok. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Stephanie Lynne Goldschmidt, Department of Veterinary Surgical and Radiologic Sciences, University of California-Davis, Davis, United States
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