Yun-Sook Jung

Relationship between chewing ability and cognitive impairment in the rural elderly

OBJECTIVE Relationship between masticatory function and cognitive impairment had been suggested but still understudied. We investigated the association between chewing ability and cognitive impairment among the elderly living in a rural region. METHODS A total of 295 elderly individuals aged ≥70 years in a rural city of Korea participated in a cross-sectional study. Trained nurses conducted interviews and assessed chewing ability using gum that changed color based on chewing performance. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination for Dementia Screening (MMSE-DS) of Korean vesrsion. Socio-demographic characteristics, activities of daily living (ADL), Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) were also assessed using questionnaires as potential confounders. RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 81.4 (ranged 70-102) years and 67.8% of them were female. Participants with low chewing ability were significantly older, dependent, and had lower MNA and MMSE-DS scores. The elderly with middle or low chewing ability had significantly higher risk for having cognitive impairment than those with higher chewing ability. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that poor chewing ability is associated with cognitive impairment or dementia in the elderly living in rural area.

Social Capital and Oral Health: the association of social capital with edentulism and chewing ability in the rural elderly

OBJECTIVE The association between social capital and oral health had been reported in various ways, but still remains unclear. We investigated the association between the social capital of the elderly living in a rural region and their edentulism and chewing ability. METHODS A total of 241 elderly aged≥70years living in a rural city of Korea participated in this cross-sectional study. Their social capital was surveyed by questionnaire assessing its network and trust dimensions. Their edentulism and chewing ability were assessed by oral examination and chewing gum whose color changes based on the mastication performance. RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 82.7 (ranged 71 to 101) years and 68.8% of them were female. In the binomial regression analysis, the general network aspect of the network dimension was significantly associated with chewing ability, of which the prevalence ratio was 1.88 (95% CI: 1.16-3.06) in the age, sex, education and marital status-adjusted model. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that social capital, such as a poor social network, is associated with poor chewing ability in the elderly living in rural areas.

Can the number of functional teeth potentially affect cognitive function

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Relationship between the activities of daily living, oral health-related quality of life and dementia: ADL and OHRQoL and dementia

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the activities of daily living and the oral health‐related quality of life and dementia in older adults.

Evaluation of the whitening and remineralization effects of a mixture of amorphous calcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite and tetrasodium pyrophosphate on bovine enamel

effects of a mixture of amorphous calcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite and tetrasodium pyrophosphate on bovine enamel Young-Eun Lee, Dong-Ok Park, Yun-Sook Jung, Keun-Bae Song Department of Dental Hygiene, Daegu Health College, Daegu, Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Science & Technology, Kyungpook National University, Sangju, Department of Preventive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea