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Updated: Jun 26, 2026
08:47
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Oral motor function and masticatory performance in the community-dwelling elderly.
Takeshi Kikutani1, Fumiyo Tamura, Keiko Nishiwaki
1Rehabilitation Clinic for Speech and Swallowing Disorders, The Nippon Dental University Hospital, 3-16 Fujimi 2-chome, Chiyodaku, Tokyo, Japan. kikutani@tokyo.ndu.ac.jp
Odontology
|February 3, 2009
Summary
Oral motor functions like tongue pressure decline with age in the elderly. Strong tongue function is crucial for maintaining chewing performance, especially when natural teeth are missing.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Oral Health
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Aging impacts oral motor functions, affecting chewing ability in the elderly.
- Maintaining masticatory performance is vital for nutrition and overall health in older adults.
- Oral motor skills, including tongue and lip function, are key components of chewing efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between oral motor functions (tongue, lips) and age in community-dwelling elderly individuals.
- To investigate how age-related oral motor changes influence masticatory performance.
- To identify factors predicting masticatory performance in older adults with varying degrees of natural tooth support.
Main Methods:
- Study involved 268 healthy elderly Japanese individuals in Kyoto, divided into four age groups.
- Participants were classified based on posterior occlusal support (Eichner A/B1-B3 vs. B4/C).
- Evaluated masticatory performance and oral motor skills (tongue pressure, syllable repetition).
Main Results:
- Tongue pressure significantly decreased with age in both posterior occlusal support groups (P < 0.01, P < 0.05).
- Syllable repetition (/ta/, /ka/) showed age-related differences in the group with less occlusal support (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).
- Number of natural teeth (Group A) and tongue pressure (Group B) were significant predictors of masticatory performance (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
- Tongue function plays a critical role in compensating for missing teeth to maintain masticatory performance in the elderly.
- Preserving and enhancing tongue motor skills is important for nutritional intake and quality of life in aging populations.
- Age-related decline in oral motor function necessitates targeted interventions to support chewing efficiency in older adults.
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