Abstract
Introduction: The moisture content in the oral mucosa is affected by foods and beverages. However, there have only been a few reports of these effects. Therefore, we studied the moisture content in the oral mucosa periodically for elderly residents of nursing facilities and examined the relationship between items that are associated with xerostomia and the moisture content in the oral mucosa.
Subjects and methods: 41 subjects (21 males, 20 females) with an average age of 79±8.5 years, who resided in the Tokyo Metropolitan Itabashi Nursing Home, took part inthe study. They had no history of diseases associated with xerostomia, and showed no symptoms such as fever during the study period. As for methodology, the moisture on the dorsal surface of the tongue and the buccal mucosa wasmeasured using an oral moisture checking device (Moisture checking device “Mucus”: hereinafter referred to as “improved type”). At one site, it was measured three times, and the mean was set as the measured value. It was measured three times a day; immediately after waking up in the morning, before having breakfast, after having lunch, and after having dinner. Furthermore, the relationshipwas examined between the moisture content in the oral mucosa and each of the following items: gender, whether or not any internal medicine was being taken, the presence orabsence of xerostomia and a history of smoking.
Results: It is suggested that the moisture content inthe oral mucosa is affected by foods and beverages. Significant differences were observed in the moisture on the dorsal surface of the tongue according to gender: in lower values were observed in females. No relationship was observedbetween the moisture content in the oral mucosa and the patient's smoking history, internal medicines or history of xerostomia.
