Changes in oral stereognosis of healthy adults by age

Rehabilitation for dysfunctions of eating and swallowing should be considered in terms of not only motor but also sensory function. Sensory information from a bolus in the mouth plays an important role in eating and swallowing. Therefore, this study investigated oral stereognosis in 184 healthy adults with normal eating and swallowing function in order to obtain normative data. Oral stereognosis was assessed by using 20 intra-oral test pieces with different shapes. The subjects manipulated the test pieces in the mouth and identified their shapes. At this time, the test scores and response times for answering were recorded. The results revealed differences in oral stereognosis depending on the age of the subjects and the test pieces employed. The younger group had higher test scores and shorter response times than the older group, except for comparisons between the 20s and 30s age groups. In addition, response time was negative correlated with test scores (r = -0.956, P < 0.001). These results indicate that oral stereognosis decreases with age.