2014 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 180-187
Purpose: In the super-aging society of Japan today, although a growing percentage of elderly people aged 65 and over still have at least 20 of their own natural teeth, there are serious problems of increased risk of periodontal disease and root caries.
It has been considered that degradation of the oral environmental arises from xerostomia via hyposalivation. A main symptomatic treatment for xerostomia is management of mucosal pain and discomfort by using artificial saliva and moisturizing agents for retaining the moisture of the mucous. In this study, we evaluated variations in the quantity of salivation and after oral myofunctional therapy in elderly periodontal patients.
Methods: This study included 20 patients aged 65 and over with at least 20 of their own natural teeth who were diagnosed as moderate to severe chronic periodontitis and under supportive periodontal therapy (SPT) at Outpatient Clinic of Periodontology, Matsumoto Dental University Hospital. The patients received lip-closing force by using an oral rehabilitation apparatus, Patakara (Patakara) for oral myofunctional therapy. The lip-closing training was performed once for 3 minutes per day for four weeks.
Lip-closing force was measured by a multidirectional lip-closing force measurement system (Patents JP-4487132, JP-4554630). The unstimulated saliva flow rate was measured by the spitting method, while the stimulated saliva flow rate was measured by the Saxon test. Oral mucosa wettability on the tongue and buccal mucosa was measured by a moisture checker Mucas (Life).
Results: The subjects included 6 males and 14 females. The average age of the subjects was 71.6±5.7 years old. The number of present teeth was 23.6±5.6. The average PD was 2.5±0.5 mm, CAL was 3.2±1.5 mm, and BOP was 10.1±12.4%. The lip-closing training was continued for four weeks, and the unstimulated saliva and stimulated saliva flow rates were significantly higher than at the start of the experiment. Furthermore, oral mucosa wettability on the tongue and buccal mucosa were also significantly increased compared to the start of the experiment.
Conclusion: The lip-closing training increased both the unstimulated and stimulated saliva flow rates. In addition, the improvement of the wettability in oral cavity will have a possibility of the decrease of the number of the oral bacteria due to xerostomia by improvement of lip-closing force.
