2019 Volume 32 Issue 3 Pages 181-188
In the super-aging society of Japan, it is expected that the management period after dental implant treatment will increase and that the various situations of patients with implants will markedly change. We evaluated in terms of functional anatomy “matters in patients that should be understood” and “items in patients that should be checked” by dentists and dental hygienists during long-term management after treatment. Muscle strength decreases with age after the age of 45 because individual muscle fibers become thinner (the protein content decreases) and the number of muscle fibers decreases. This decrease in muscle strength of the elderly causes distortion of the body axis of the entire body. The head and neck are involved in the posture of the entire body, and so the possibility that age-related morphological changes in the body axis affect the head and jaw positions should be considered. The head position is determined and maintained mainly by muscle groups from the sides of the neck to its posterior portion. Many suboccipital muscles in the deep layer of the posterior portion of the neck connect the cervical vertebrae to the cranial base. Anterior tilting of the head position due to loss of cervical lordosis changes the normal positions of these muscles. Such age-related morphological and functional changes also occur in the temporomandibular joint and can affect the mandibular position. Therefore, in the super-aging society of Japan, it may be necessary to record age-related changes in not only the oral cavity but also the entire body.
