Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the detailed oral function and perception (warm, cold, tactile and thermal pain) of the oral mucosa of 10 postoperative mandibular cancer patients. The age of the patients ranged from 59 to 82 years. Oral function was evaluated using the low-adhesive color-developing chewing gum method, the Occlusal Prescale, the modified questionnaire of Yamamoto's masticatory grade, the Japanese monosyllable intelligibility test, and the whole mouth gustatory test. Perception was measured at two points on the lower lip and four points on the tip and dorsum of the tongue.
Yamamoto's masticatory grade (subjective evaluation) did not agree with masticatory performance (objective evaluation). Regarding Japanese monosyllable intelligibility, the patients had mild disorder. There were no differences in gustatory threshold between the patients and normal subjects. On the affected side, improvement of the heat and thermal pain thresholds was slower than that of the coldness and tactile thresholds.
