Dysphagia and oral health

Abstract

Chewing, transfer of nutrients and swallowing are continuous events. Chewing function covers the coordinated movement of teeth, chewing muscles, temporomandibular joints, tongue, cheeks and lips. Swallowing is a dynamic and complex movement with a widespread sensory motor neural network, requiring coordinated work of lips, tongue, palate, pharynx, larynx and esophageal muscles. In case of dysphagia, defined as deterioration at any stage of the swallowing sequence, the safety, efficiency or adequacy of food intake may be impaired. Patients with dysphagia are known to be at greater risk of developing aspiration pneumonia Diagnosis and treatment of these patients often requires a multidisciplinary approach. It is critical for an impaired oral and dental health condition and oral infections, especially for aspiration and related conditions. In order to prevent such infections, patients with swallowing dysfunction should care to oral and dental health, and they should be trained to provide oral hygiene. In these patients, it will be possible to contribute to the chewing function and indirectly to swallow problems by completing the oral and dental treatments and providing a good occlusion.