2009 Volume 1 Issue 2 Pages 148-156
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of mastication ability, comfort during chewing and the degree of satisfaction with and without wearing dentures in partial denture wearers on brain function.
Methods: The subjects were 20 partial denture wearers who visited the clinic for maintenance. The occlusal contact area and occlusal force were measured with and without dentures for the functional assessment. For the subjective assessment of dentures, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used to evaluate comfort during chewing and degree of satisfaction. Electroencephalograms taken for 3 minutes after chewing with and without dentures were analyzed by the Diagnosis Method of Neuronal Dysfunction for brain function assessment. The statistical analyses were performed using Wilcoxon's test and Spearman's rank-correlation coefficient.
Results: The average occlusal contact area and occlusal force in all subjects increased significantly with dentures (p<0.05). Comfort during chewing with wearing dentures and the degree of satisfaction increased significantly compared to no dentures (p<0.05). Seventeen subjects (n=20) showed an increase in brain function activity (p<0.05). Correlations were found between brain function and each of the occlusal contact area and occlusal force.
Conclusion: The mastication ability improved by dentures, followed by activation of brain function after chewing. Also, the results suggested that the occlusal contact area and occlusal force had an influence on brain function. However, comfort during chewing and the degree of satisfaction did not influence brain function.
