Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of occlusal support on labial function in elderly denture wearers.
Thirty one elderly individuals (8 male and 23 female, mean age 81.9 years) who had no feeding or swallow-ing disorders were chosen for evaluation oflip closing pressure when taking food, to analyze te effect ofocclusal support. The number classified as having posterior support for occlusionwith natural teeth (OS) was 13, and that with no occlusal support (NOS) was 18. A water-repellent pressure sensor (PS-2Ka, Kyowa Electric Co., Tokyo, Japan) was embedded in the ball of aspoon. One gram of yogurt was repeated-ly given to the subject to ingestLip closing pressure against the sensor was evaluated by acomputerized system.
The results demonstrated that lip closing pressure wassignificantlyhigher lip closing duration wassignificantly longer, and pressure integral wassignificantly larger, when subjects took food without occlusalsupport. In the NOS group, lip closing pressure, lip closing duration and pressureintegral showed a significant difference between with and withoudentures. It was concluded that loss of jaw stability by occlusion had a significant effect on labial function when taking food.
