Effectiveness of oral exercise on oral function among the elderly

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of oral exercise on oral function among the elderly at a selected old age home in Chennai. RESEARCH DESIGN: The present study adopted a one-group pretest and posttest (preexperimental) design. METHODS: Participants received intervention “oral exercise“ which comprised of exercises for expression muscles (orbicularis oculi, buccinator and orbicularis oris), tongue, salivary glands, and swallowing. The pre- and posttests included assessment of oral function (dry mouth symptoms, amount of salivary pH, salivary secretion, size of mouth opening, halitosis, and oral motor function) using summated xerostomia inventory, spitting into a measuring container for 10 min, pH meter, Vernier caliper, organoleptic test, and Sunnybrook facial grading system, respectively. RESULTS: Using nonprobability convenience sampling technique, a total of 48 older people living in an old age home who met the inclusion and dental screening criteria were recruited. There was a statistically considerable difference noted in the mean scores of the dry mouth symptoms (t = 11.88), amount of salivary secretions (t = 17.05), salivary pH (t = 8.68), size of mouth opening (t = 14.76), halitosis (t = 13.13), and oral motor function (t = 11.52) at P <.001 before and after oral exercise among the elderly. CONCLUSION: Oral exercise as a self-regulating intervention can efficiently promote oral health of older people.