Abstract
In Japan, a country with an aging population, hyposalivation is becoming a serious problem among the elderly. The purpose of this study was to develop a new method for promoting salivary secretion using the olfactory stimulus of Citrus sudachi, artificial sudachi fragrance, and the combined use of artificial sudachi fragrance with thermo stimulus. Olfactory stimulus of Citrus sudachi is known as a safe stimulus that can stimulate salivary secretion of patients before food intake. However, Citrus sudachi is a seasonal fruit, so its effect was compared to that of artificial sudachi fragrance. The amount of saliva was recorded to evaluate the effect among 94 healthy adult participants who signed an informed consent form approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Tokushima University Hospital (#1283). Since olfactory stimulus easily fades, thermo stimulus was used because it is known to increase salivary secretion continuously. Thus,the effect of artificial sudachi fragrance combined with thermo stimulus using a hot pack on three different parts of the body (eyes, submandibular, chest) was also examined. Changes in salivary secretion was recorded for 1 hour after the stimulation. Results showed that artificial sudachi fragrance increased salivary secretion as much as Citrus sudachi. There was no significant difference between the olfactory stimuli of artificial sudachi fragrance when used alone, and when used in combination with thermo stimulus. However, it was observed that the stimulus which increased salivary secretion the most in 50 minutes was the olfactory stimulus with thermo stimulus on the submandibular. It can therefore be said that the combined use of olfactory stimulus with thermo stimulus is useful when saliva secretion becomes a concern among the elderly, especially at the start of food intake.
