Oral Function for Diagnosing Oral Hypofunction in Healthy Young Adults: A Comparison with the Literature

This study investigated decline in oral function in healthy young adults and compared it with that observed in an earlier studies employing older adults. The participants comprised 130 young healthy adults (mean age 24.1±2.9 yr), all with complete dentition. All participants underwent the oral hypofunction test established by the Japanese Society of Gerodontology, which evaluates oral hygiene, oral dryness, occlusal force, tongue-lip motor function (oral diadochokinetic rate; ODK), tongue pressure, and masticatory and swallowing function. The average value for and rate of hypofunction of each parameter were calculated. In healthy young adults, the scores were 28.9±17.1% for oral hygiene; 28.8±2.2 for oral dryness; 959.9±499.8 N for occlusal force; 7.0±0.8 times/sec for ODK /pa/, 7.6±0.8 times/sec for /ta/, and 6.9±0.9 times/sec for /ka/; 41.8±8.4 kPa for tongue pressure; 249.8±94.1 mg/dl for masticatory function; and 0.2±0.7 for swallowing function. No sign or symptom of change in oral function was observed at a high rate in young adults. Occlusal force, tongue-lip motor function, and tongue pressure showed a large difference in the rate of hypofunction between younger and older adults, however.