Observation of Tongue Pressure to Palate at Swallowing. Comparison between Young Dentitions and Elderly Complete Denture Wearers.

Abstract

Abstract:Mastication and swallowing are closely related to tongue function. In the elderly, decrease of tongue function is suspected to cause oral malfunction. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the aging of swallowing by observing tongue pressure on the palate during swallowing. The subjects used were three young dentate persons and eight elderly complete denture wearers. Five pressure transducers were placed in either the artificial palatal plate or the duplicated upper denture. Tongue pressure and electromyography (EMG) of the suprahyoid muscle were recorded.The results were as follows : 1. Maximum tongue pressure of the elderly denture wearers was significantly lower than that of young dentate persons. 2. Upon swallowing saliva, both the duration from the EMG onset of suprahyoid muscle movement to the onset of tongue pressure and from the EMG onset to the time of maximum tongue pressure of the elderly were longer than those of the young dentate persons.3. In young dentate persons, the duration from the onset of tongue pressure to the time of maximum tongue pressure in swallowing saliva was shorter than that for swallowing 2 ml water, while that of elderly denture wearers was longer.

Tongue pressure against hard palate during swallowing in post‐stroke patients

“…Although the IOWA Oral Performance Instrument 21–23 and the handy probe 24 are useful in basic assessment of tongue pressure, these devices are not suitable for evaluating natural swallowing as they must be used without bringing the teeth into occlusion. Although electric pressure sensors installed in an experimental palatal plate 11,12,17 or the maxillary denture 10, 14–16 were able to provide continuous recording of tongue pressure, its fabrication was too complicated for clinical use. The sensor sheet used in the present study was developed for the simple and precise measurement of tongue pressure in dysphagic patients under natural conditions.…”

“…Furthermore, magnitude of tongue pressure at the posterior-lateral part did not differ between the two groups, suggesting a change in distribution of tongue pressure in the post-stroke patients. Kitaoka et al 14 . found the trend that the magnitude of tongue pressure was larger at the anterior part of the hard palate in the young dentate and at the posterior part in elderly denture wearers, which might be caused by the morphological and locative change of the tongue in the elderly.…”

“…Recently, a number of studies investigating 10–17 the contact of the tongue against the hard palate during swallowing have used pressure sensors to measure the magnitude or duration of tongue pressure. Previously, we described the normal pattern of tongue pressure production during a voluntarily evoked swallow using an experimental palatal plate with seven pressure sensors 17 – a device that was evaluated to be useful for the quantitative evaluation of tongue activity in the dysphagic patient 18 .…”