Abstract
We investigated how jelly is crushed and examined the relationship between tongue pressure and tongue food crushing ability among older adults requiring nursing home care. Seventy-two participants were instructed to freely crush the test foods soft jelly (SJ) and hard jelly (HJ). We visually evaluated the crushability of the test food and identified the intraoral tissues (active sites) used to crush the test food. The active sites were consistent for all participants for both SJ and HJ, and they included the maxillary and mandibular teeth in 41 participants, teeth and residual ridges in 15 participants, maxillary and mandibular residual ridges in 10 participants, and tongue and palate in six participants. Two participants failed to crush the SJ; the active sites in both participants were the tongue and palate. No participant using the tongue and palate as active sites could crush the HJ. Furthermore, 64 participants could crush the SJ and 23 could crush the HJ using the tongue and palate. The cutoff value of the tongue pressure for crushability of the HJ was 22.0 kPa. Assessing tongue pressure and intraoral active sites involved in food crushing could help determine an appropriate diet for older adults requiring nursing home care.
Highlights
A soft jelly (SJ) as hard as rice porridge or scrambled egg [28] at approximately 1.51 × 104 N/m2 (Oishikusen’i®, peach flavor, House Foods Corporation, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) and a hard jelly (HJ) as hard as soft rice or rolled egg at approximately 2.73 × 104 N/m2 (Minijelly®, peach flavor, Nisshin OilliO Group, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) were each cut into pieces of 30 mm
We evaluated the crushability of the two types of test foods when the participant raised their tongue upward with the cardboard spoon inserted into their oral cavity
This study aimed to establish a method of oral function assessment to determine food crushing capacity in older adults with cognitive function decline and requiring care, to inform food types that can be safely consumed by this group
Summary
Older adults who require caregiving find it difficult to visit dental clinics because of cognitive decline and reduced capacity with respect to activities of daily living (ADL) [1]. These adults with declining dental health live in social withdrawal due to aesthetic changes, deterioration of quality of life, and reduced ability to communicate. Ingesting tangible foods is nutritious [2]; some people tend to eat less tangible food when oral health problems occur despite the possibility of retaining masticatory function. It is difficult to evaluate occlusal force and masticatory function
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