Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2025
Mimicking and Measuring Occlusal Erosive Tooth Wear with the "Rub&Roll" and Non-contact Profilometry
Published on: February 2, 2018
Age-related difference in oral adaptation to masticatory perturbation
Chia-Shu Lin1, Yi-Chen Chen2, Li-Jung Chao2
1Department of Dentistry, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan; Institute of Brain Science, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan; Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan; Oral Medicine Innovation Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan.
Objectives:
Mastication can be influenced by intraoral perturbation (e.g., hard food). We developed the masticatory perturbation task (MPT) to assess the perturbation effect during mastication and quantify the degree of adaptation to masticatory perturbation in younger and older adults.
Design:
Thirty-eight younger and 38 older participants completed the MPT, which consisted of three trials assessing masticatory performance (MP) without perturbation (i.e., the baseline condition) and three trials assessing MP with perturbation (i.e., the perturbation condition). Perturbation was implemented by concurrently chewing test food on the preferred side and a drinking straw on the nonpreferred side. We estimated the perturbation effect as the ΔMP between the baseline and perturbation conditions and the adaptation effect as the ΔMP between the third and the first trials for both age groups.
Results:
We found a significant perturbation effect, i.e., a lower MP in the perturbation condition than in the baseline condition, and an adaptation effect, i.e., a higher MP in the third trial than the first trial, in both groups. Moreover, the older group showed a lower degree of adaptation than the younger group.
Conclusion:
The masticatory perturbation task revealed the perturbation effect during mastication and the adaptation to masticatory perturbation. The results revealed an association between age and masticatory adaptation.
