Abstract
It has been suggested that oral care is essential
for improving the quality of life (QOL). The aim of
oral care involves not only maintenance of oral
health but also enhancement of mastication and
appetite by means of improving taste sensitivity.
There are, however, few studies that have investigated
the effect of oral care on taste sensitivity. In
the present study, we focused on tongue brushing
among oral care and examined the changes in taste
sensitivities by mild tongue brushing in the
nursed elderly. Ninety subjects, over 64 years old
with ability to communicate, were divided into 2
groups, one was the cared group (subject's
tongue was brushed) and the other was the control
group (not brushed but rinsed). The thresholds for
four primary tastes such as saltiness, sourness,
sweetness and bitterness were measured before
and after treatments using the whole mouth
method. The mean recognition thresholds for
salty and sour tastes significantly decreased after
tongue brushing in the cared group, while those for
all four tastes were not changed after mouth rinsing
in the control group. The present result suggests
that mild tongue brushing may enhance
taste sensitivity of saltiness and sourness in the
nursed elderly.
