Measurement of oral function

Abstract

Prosthodontic treatments aim to improve patients’ health and quality of life through rehabilitation of “masticatory function”. Prosthodontic treatments have attracted much attention in recent times as a strategy to prevent or minimize the need for nursing care in patients with frailty and dementia. Several studies have reported a positive association between deterioration of masticatory function secondary to tooth loss or disuse of dentures and cognitive dysfunction or dementia onset; however, this association remains controversial. This could be attributed to the unavailability of a standardized method in dental practice for evaluation of masticatory function. In this article, we discuss strategies to establish standardized indicators to “measure” masticatory function.