title: Blood flow in denture-supporting maxillary mucosa in response to simulated mastication by loading.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of number of chewing strokes on change in blood flow in denture-supporting maxillary mucosa.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects consisted of 11 healthy dentate men. Mastication was simulated by intermittent loading (10 N, 1/0.75 Hz) on a lateral area of the hard palate using a 2-cm(2) test plate. Loading duration was set at 1, 4, 8 or 12 min (80, 320, 640 or 960 chewing strokes). A non-contact laser Doppler blood flow meter was used to determine change in blood flow and time taken for recovery to 110% of the pre-loading value. Mean blood flow at pre-loading and at each duration of intermittent loading were compared using a repeated measures ANOVA (α=0.05) and the Dunnett test. Recovery times for each loading duration were compared using a one-way ANOVA (α=0.05) and the Bonferroni-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three subjects showed no increase in mean blood flow with loading. Eight subjects consistently showed an increase in mean blood flow during intermittent loading relative to at pre-loading. Duration of loading yielded no significant difference in mean blood flow. Significant differences were observed in recovery time between at after 8 min loading and at after the other 3 loading (1, 4, and 12 min loading) durations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Number of simulated chewing strokes showed no influence on mean blood flow during intermittent loading in denture-supporting mucosa. It did, however, affect recovery time taken for blood flow to return to its pre-loading level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Removable Prosthodontics and Gerodontology, Tokyo Dental College, 1-2-2 Masago, Mihama-ku, Chiba city, Chiba 261-8502, Japan. cokada@tdc.ac.jp
authors.forename: China
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakurai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003778:Dentures; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology*; D008437:Maxilla / Q000098:blood supply*; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000098:blood supply*; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology