Abstract
The present study was conducted in order to identify the taste receptor function at different temperatures in both elderly and elderly edentulous subjects, for extended healthy life expectancy.
The taste stimuli used were sucrose for sweetness, sodium chloride for saltiness, L+ tartaric acid for sourness and hydrochloric quinine for bitterness. The concentration of tastant varied from C0 to C13 in multiple dilution ratios and the temperature settings were 5°C, 15°C, 30°C, 45°C and 55°C. A full mouth taste test was performed both elderly subjects with elderly edenturous subjects under conditions of presence and absence of palatal plate and upper complete denture.
The results were as follows. For sweet stimuli, the values of the recognition thresholds at 30 and 45°C were significantly greater for elderly subjects compared with edentulous subjects without palatal plates or denture. For sweet stimuli, the values of the recognition thresholds at all temperature were significantly greater for elderly subjects compared with edentulous subjects without palatal plates or with denture. For bitter stimuli, the values of the recognition thresholds at 5 and 55°C were significantly greater for elderly subjects compared with edentulous subjects without palatal plates or with of dentures. For sweet stimuli, the values of the recognition thresholds at 5, 30, 45 and 55°C were significantly greater for elderly subjects compared with edentulous subjects without palatal plates or with dentures. For bitter stimuli, the values of the recognition thresholds at 5 and 55°C were significantly greater for elderly subjects compared with edentulous subjects without palatal plates or with dentures.
The present findings revealed that sweet and bitter gustatory thresholds were significantly elevated in edentulous subjects who wore dentures over a long term, suggesting that depression of taste sensation was compensated by changing tastant temperature in elderly subjects.
