title: Evaluation of participants' perception and taste thresholds with a zirconia palatal plate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Zirconia and cobalt-chromium can withstand a similar degree of loading. Therefore, using a zirconia base for removable dentures could allow the thickness of the palatal area to be reduced similarly to metal base dentures. We hypothesized that zirconia palatal plate for removable dentures provides a high level of participants' perception without influencing taste thresholds. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the participants' perception and taste thresholds of zirconia palatal plate.
  
  
  METHODS
  Palatal plates fabricated using acrylic resin, zirconia, and cobalt-chromium alloy were inserted into healthy individuals. Taste thresholds were investigated using the whole-mouth gustatory test, and participants' perception was evaluated using the 100-mm visual analog scale to assess the ease of pronunciation, ease of swallowing, sensation of temperature, metallic taste, sensation of foreign body, subjective sensory about weight, adhesiveness of chewing gum, and general satisfaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the taste thresholds, no significant differences were noted in sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or umami tastes among participants wearing no plate, or the resin, zirconia, and metal plates. Speech was easier and foreign body sensation was lower with the zirconia plate than with the resin plate. Evaluation of the adhesiveness of chewing gum showed that chewing gum does not readily adhere to the zirconia plate in comparison with the metal plate. The comprehensive participants' perception of the zirconia plate was evaluated as being superior to the resin plate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A zirconia palatal plate provides a high level of participants' perception without influencing taste thresholds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Removable Prosthodontics and Gerodontology, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.affiliation: Department of Removable Prosthodontics and Gerodontology, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomofumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.affiliation: Department of Removable Partial Prosthodontics, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tasaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Removable Prosthodontics and Gerodontology, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: uedat@tdc.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.affiliation: Department of Removable Prosthodontics and Gerodontology, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakurai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003722:Dental Alloys; D003832:Denture, Partial, Removable; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010159:Palate; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult; D015040:Zirconium
chemical_list: D003722:Dental Alloys; D015040:Zirconium; C028541:zirconium oxide
keywords: Ce-TZP-Al(2)O(3); Dentures; Palate; Taste; Zirconium oxide