2000 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 182-188
The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of stabilized occlusion on feeding functions of bedridden elderly individuals. The subjects were 73 individuals (22 males and 51 females, mean age of 83.8, 8.2 SD) in a nursing home. Evaluation methods used included a questionnaire covering daily life activities, total body functions and diet, and a clinical examination. The factors affecting feeding functions were analyzed by x^2 test. Dentists and dental hygienists examined oral conditions and feeding functions by RSST and the food test. We analyzed the relationships among stabilized occlusion, RSST and the food test. The results obtained were as follows. 1. The results of RSST demonstrated that 17 of 57 (29.8%) individuals exhibited dissatisfactory function for swallowing (less than 3 times/30 seconds). This dissatisfaction rate was significantly higher in the individuals without stabilized occlusion as compared to the ones with stabilized occlusion (p<0.01). 2. Sixteen of 57 (28.1%) individuals took more than 5 seconds until the first swallowing was completed in the RSST. This unfavorable phenomenon was prominent in the individuals without stabilized occlusion as compared to the ones with stabilized occlusion ; however, no statistical differences existed between them. 3. Food remaining was detected in 40 of 69 (58.0%) individuals in the food test. The subjects with stabilized occlusion demonstrated significantly less food remaining as compared to the ones without stabilized occlusion (p<0.01).
