Does oral health affect food comfortability and bolus properties during consumption of dairy products in elderly population?

The elderly population is growing increasingly. In 2030, 1/3 of the population will be over 60 years old. However this population has specific nutritional needs and often, oral impairments such as loss of tooth and/or decrease of salivary flow. Therefore it is necessary to develop foods adapted for the elderly, in terms of organoleptic properties and nutritional composition. In this context, the purpose of this work is to study the impact of oral impairments of elderly persons on food comfortability and bolus properties during the consumption of dairy products.76 elderly persons (ages 66 to 88, 42 women and 34 men), with or without oral health problems in terms of dental and/or salivary status were recruited. Four dairy products with identical composition but different textures (soft, hard, pasty and dry) were studied. Food comfortability of the four dairy products was assessed by means of a questionnaire based on bolus formation, pain, texture and flavor perception. The time and number of cycle required to form the bolus for elderly person consuming each product was measured (video) as rheological properties (compression test) and saliva incorporated (dry extract) in each bolus. Statistical analysis (correlation, ANOVA, MFA) of the data were performed.Despite a wide array of texture, dairy products were comfortable for the elderly whatever their oral health. According to the food comfortability questionnaire, neither bolus formation, nor pain or organoleptic properties were significantly affected by the dental and/or salivary status of the elderly. The stimulated saliva flow was positively correlated with the amount of saliva incorporated in the bolus. Moreover dental status was correlated with the hardness of the bolus and results suggested that the dental status affected also the texture perception.Finally, food comfortability of our products was not affected by the oral health contrary to the bolus properties.