Improvement of taste sensitivity of the nursed elderly by oral care

It has been suggested that oral care is essential for improving the quality of life (QOL). The aim of oral care involves not only maintenance of oral health but also enhancement of mastication and appetite by means of improving taste sensitivity. There are, however, few studies that have investigated the effect of oral care on taste sensitivity. In the present study, we focused on tongue brushing among oral care and examined the changes in taste sensitivities by mild tongue brushing in the nursed elderly. Ninety subjects, over 64 years old with ability to communicate, were divided into 2 groups, one was the cared group (subject's tongue was brushed) and the other was the control group (not brushed but rinsed). The thresholds for four primary tastes such as saltiness, sourness, sweetness and bitterness were measured before and after treatments using the whole mouth method. The mean recognition thresholds for salty and sour tastes significantly decreased after tongue brushing in the cared group, while those for all four tastes were not changed after mouth rinsing in the control group. The present result suggests that mild tongue brushing may enhance taste sensitivity of saltiness and sourness in the nursed elderly.