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Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Assessment of swallowing and masticatory performance in obturator wearers: a clinical study
Nungotso Vero1, Niraj Mishra1, Balendra Pratap Singh1
1Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dental Science, King Georges Medical University, Lucknow, India.
Purpose:
To assess function by identifying changes in swallowing and masticatory performance in maxillary obturator prosthesis wearers.
Materials And Methods:
Sixty subjects were recruited for the study, of which 20 were obturator wearers, 20 were completely dentulous and 20 had removable partial/complete dentures with similar Eichner's Index. Swallowing ability was evaluated with and without obturator using the "Water Drinking Test"; Masticatory performance was evaluated with the Sieve test; and maximum occlusal force was recorded with the help of a digital bite sensor. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 15.0 with a confidence level at 95%.
Results:
Profile, behavior of drinking and time taken to drink were significantly improved (P<.001) in subjects after wearing obturator. Masticatory performance was not significantly different (P=.252) in obturator wearer when compared with dentulous or removable partial/complete denture wearer, but significantly (P<.001) high inter group difference in maximum occlusal force existed. Correlation between masticatory performance and maximum occlusal force was not significant (P=.124).
Conclusion:
Swallowing ability was significantly improved after wearing obturator but masticatory performance was not significantly different from those having similar occlusal support zone in their dentition.
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