Changes myofunctional in adults and elderly users dental prosthesis

Abstract

Objective: To describe the myofunctional oral aspects of adults and elders users of dental prosthesis. Materials and methods: The subjects were divided into six groups according to the type of dental prosthesis. The instruments for data collection were an interview with sociodemographic data and clinical speech pathology assessment through the Miofunctional Oral Assessment protocol. Results: 41 prosthesis users participated. Regarding the changes in the stomatognathic system, it was perceived the cut of food changed in 42% of users and 20% of non users. With relation to type of mastication, it was found unilateral mastication in 41% of dental prosthesis users and for 36,36% of non users of dental prosthesis. The swallowing changed was found in 70% of prosthesis users and 66.6% of non-users. Only the five group composed by users of upper and lower prosthesis presented a mastication time of 9 sec. greater than that found in the literature and the other study groups. Among prosthesis users 17.07% had abnormal speech and among non users nobody had abnormal speech. Conclusion: there are structural and functional modifications of the stomatognathic system arising from the use of removable prosthesis, which demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinary work between speech therapy and dentistry in the adaptation of dental prosthesis, allowing faster adaptation and effectively, minimizing the losses of stomatognathic functions and quality of life.