Normal variant, salivary flow rate, and taste sensitivity as oral health profile in the elderly community in Surabaya: A cross-sectional study

• Published in: Journal of international oral health Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 532 - 539
• Main Authors: Parmadiati, Adiastuti, Ayuningtyas, Nurina, Radithia, Desiana, Ernawati, Diah, Winias, Saka, Surboyo, Meircurius
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mumbai Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Publications 01-11-2020; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd
• Subjects: Cross-sectional studies; Dental research; Elderly; Filter paper; Health aspects; Mucosa; Oral health; Oral hygiene; Physiological aspects; Quinine; Saliva; Salty taste; Sodium chloride; Sour taste; Sucrose; Sweet taste; Tartaric acid; Taste (Sense); Taste thresholds; Tongue; Variance analysis; Indonesia; Salivary Flow Rate; Taste; Oral Health; Elderly
• ISSN: 0976-7428; 0976-1799
• DOI: 10.4103/JIOH.JIOH_62_20

Aim: To describe the teeth, normal variants of the mucosa, and taste sensitivity as predictors of oral health among the elderly. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six elderly patients participated in this study. The oral health status was screened by decay, missing, and filling teeth index (DMF-T), and salivary flow rate was measured with a spontaneous drooling method. Taste sensitivity was done using filter paper disk (FPD) taste testing, composed of four taste solutions: sucrose, tartaric acid, sodium chloride, and quinine hydrochloride (level 1-5). The differences between taste sensitivity and salivary flow rate were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and least significant difference (LSD) for post hoc test with P < 0.05. Results: The DMF-T index in the elderly was in the high category with score >6.6 (83.33%). The most sensitivity taste was bitter (94.44%), followed by salty (91.67%), sweet (81.00%), and sour (75.00%). Only salty and sweet taste, in most of subjects, able to detect in the left of anterior (P = 0.011) and right of posterior tongue (P = 0.038). Subjects with flow rate 0.1-0.5 mL/min were able to detect lower concentration of sweet taste than those with salivary flow rate 0.6-1.0 mL/min (P = 0.029). Normal variants of the oral mucosa most commonly found in the elderly were coated tongue (55.56%) and fissured tongue (50.00%). Conclusion: The elderly community in this study had a poor oral health index with most subjects in the DMF-T high category with score >6.6, but most salivary flow rates were still relatively normal. No significant taste sensitivity impairment was found in the elderly.