Abstract
An easy method of evaluating the oral hygiene status isconsidered to contribute greatly to improving oral hygiene status.Therefore, we developed an easy andobjective method of evaluatingthe total food residue in the oral cavity from the state offoodresidues on the tongue after swallowing.
Biscuit (Bisco®, EzakiGlico) was used as the test food, and one bite wa defined as2.25g. Thirty healthy volunteers (14 males and 16 females, meanage 32.7±7.3 years) participated in this study after giving informe consent. After brushing the teeth andtongue by a dentist, each participan was instructed to chew the biscuit in his or herown way, then swallowaccording to three swallowing patterns (swallowing once only, twiceonly, and freely). We then took a digital photograph of the fooresidues on thetongue. All the food residues in the oral cavity werecollected by brushing and rinsingthe participants' mouths, and thenth weight of the food residues was measured by theheated air-drying method t give a weight score (W-score).
We established the criteria for 4 grades ofappearance of the food residues. These criteria are referred to as thevisual inspection score (I-score). The data of both parameters (W-score I-score) were collected and analyzed with multiple regression. To examinethevalidity of the I-score, the 90 images of the tongue wereclassified according to the criteria. The mean residual weight of al 4 grades was compared with the weight of the testfood.
1. The correlation coefficient (r) between the W-score and the I-score wa 0.784 (p<0.01).
2. Each mean weight indicates approximate value to 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 of apiec of testfood at regular intervals, and differed significantly among thegrades, indicating thevalidity of the 4 grades of I-score.
There was substantial correlation between the total food residue in the oral cavityandthe food residues on the tongue, suggesting that one can evaluat the total food residuein the oral cavity from the state of the foodresidues on the tongue alone.
