Oral sugar clearance in elderly people with prosthodontic reconstructions

The aim was to study oral sugar clearance in elderly individuals, around 70 yr of age, with various types of prosthodontic reconstructions. Salivary glucose concentration was measured under the tongue after chewing a glucose tablet in four groups of individuals with: 1) complete dentures (CD) (n = 19), 2) removable partial dentures (RPD) (n = 22), 3) fixed partial dentures (FPD) (n = 24), and 4) no dentures (controls) (n = 23). Salivary glucose clearance was also studied after a mouthrinse with 10% glucose in 18 of the 19 individuals with CD and in 13 of the 22 with RPD both with and without the dentures. Saliva samples for glucose analysis were taken, in this part of the experiment, at two separate locations: under the tongue and in the labial vestibule near the mandibular right first molar. After the tablet intake, the group with CD showed the highest initial salivary glucose concentration, the longest oral sugar clearance time and the largest area under the curve, followed by the group with RPD. FPD did not seem to influence the oral sugar clearance. After the glucose rinse, higher values for the various clearance variables were obtained in the vestibule than under the tongue and, to some extent, when the experiments were carried out with than without the dentures. Thus, the results from this study indicate that removable dentures, especially CD, contribute to less effective oral sugar clearance in elderly people and that the oral clearance seems to be more dependent on the site than on the presence or absence of removable dentures in the oral cavity.