title: Effect of swallowing exercises in independent elderly.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of swallowing exercises on oral function in independent elderly patients visiting the Department of Prosthodontics at Tokyo Dental College Chiba Hospital. Twenty-nine patients aged over 65 years (15 men and 14 women; mean age, 75.0 years) in whom treatment was completed at this college were enrolled in the study. The patients were instructed on how to perform swallowing exercises monthly (including at baseline) for the first 2 months from the start of the study and asked to perform those exercises at least once daily. At the beginning and end of the study (a 3-month study period), the Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test was conducted and occlusal force, oral diadochokinesis, unstimulated whole saliva flow rate, stimulated whole saliva flow rate, salivary pH at rest, and salivary buffering capacity measured to determine the effects of the exercises on oral function. Analyses demonstrated significant increases in diadochokinesis rate (/ta/ and /ka/) and unstimulated whole saliva flow rate (p<0.05), suggesting that the swallowing exercises promote the maintenance and improvement of oral function in the independent elderly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dysphagia Rehabilitation and Community Dental Care, Tokyo Dental College, 1-2-2 Masago, Mihama-ku, Chiba 261-8502, Japan. tesugiya@tdc.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Mai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohkubo
authors.forename: Yasutoshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tasaka
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagasawa
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakurai
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001732:Bite Force; D001945:Breathing Exercises; D002021:Buffers; D002610:Cheek / Q000502:physiology; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D008405:Massage; D008410:Masticatory Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D009055:Mouth / Q000502:physiology; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D010700:Phonetics; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000502:physiology; D012636:Secretory Rate / Q000502:physiology; D012782:Shoulder / Q000502:physiology; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002021:Buffers