Dental care with nutrition as an outcome! frailty prevention, low nutrition, masticatory motor dysfunction

Abstract

“Low nutrition” is a problem for the elderly in terms of preventing frailty. The causes of mastication disorders can be divided into two categories: organic disorders and motor dysfunction. The former is caused by loss of teeth and other organs of mastication, for which restoration of the occlusion through prosthetic treatment such as dentures is a necessary method to improve function. The latter is due to a decline in motor function caused by a disturbance in the motor control system and muscle weakness in the oral cavity, which is caused by physiological aging and cerebrovascular disease. Dentistry has followed the “disease model” to prevent and treat dental caries and periodontal diseases, as well as prosthetic treatment, with the aim of improving masticatory disorders. However, in the “life model”, interventions such as dietary guidance and motor training are necessary to prevent sarcopenia caused by under-nutrition and functional decline due to ageing against a background of chewing disorders. We believe that dental practitioners must understand the causes of the decline in masticatory function in the elderly and the relationship between the nutritional status of the elderly and practice dental care with nutritional outcomes based on a life model.