title: Self-assessed masticatory ability in relation to maximal bite force and dental state in 80-year-old subjects.
abstract: By means of a questionnaire, clinical examination and force recordings, the relationships between self-assessed masticatory ability, dental state and bite force were studied in 160 80-year-old persons, 74 men and 86 women. The subjects were in general satisfied with their masticatory ability and 70% had no problems, while 6% reported three or more problems with mastication. Half of the subjects were dentate without removable prostheses and almost one-third had 20 or more natural teeth. The edentulous persons (about one-fifth of all) reported more problems related to mastication than the other dentition groups. The maximal bite force varied much and exhibited a significant correlation to the number of remaining teeth and dental state. The self-assessed masticatory ability was only weakly correlated with dental state and bite force. It was concluded that many subjects with few or no remaining teeth and/or removable dentures had only few complaints of impaired masticatory function and showed a good adaptation to an impaired dental status and small maximal bite force.
authors.affiliation: Department of Removable Prosthodontics, Hiroshima University School of Dentistry, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuga
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Carlsson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osterberg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karlsson
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001732:Bite Force; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; D003817:Dentition; D003824:Denture, Complete; D003830:Denture, Partial, Fixed; D003832:Denture, Partial, Removable; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology*; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000503:physiopathology; D009909:Oral Health; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires