Abstract
We examined the relationship between oral function and the ability to touch the tip of the tongue to the corners of the mouth among community-dwelling dependent elderly individuals. The subjects were 183 community-dwelling dependent elderly individuals residing in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Data were collected through a questionnaire and a field survey. We obtained data on age, gender, level of independence, swallowing function, tongue pressure, labial closure force, and the ability to touch the tip of the tongue to the corners of the mouth. The RSST (Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test) was performed to evaluate the swallowing function. In order to evaluate their lateral tongue movement, the subjects were asked to touch the left and right corners of their mouths with the tips of their tongues in turn for five seconds. The average score on the RSST was 2.63±1.31, and the mean tongue pressure was 23.11±10.89 kPa. The subjectsʼaverage lip power was 10.64±6.28 N, and the average tongue movement score was 6.13±2.78. Their ability to touch the tip of the tongue to the corners of the mouth was significantly related to their RSST, tongue pressure and lip power scores respectively. Our results suggest that the tongue movement is significantly related to subjective assessment of oral function among community-dwelling dependent elderly individuals.
