• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.103-109
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of oral exercise on oral health and oral health related quality of life in the elderly people. Methods: The subjects were83 elderly people including 42 elderly people of intervention group and 41 elderly people of control group. A dentist and a dental hygienist carried out the direct oral examination. The self-reported questionnaire was completed and the oral examination consisted of decayed tooth, missing tooth, filling tooth, functioning tooth, plaque index, salivary flow rate, and range of motion in mouth opening. OHIP-14 was used to assess the oral health related quality of life. For three months, oral exercise was done twice per week in the experimental group. Results: Before oral exercise, there was no significant difference between the intervention group and control group. After 3 months, there was a significant improvement in plaque reduction and range of motion in mouth opening between two groups (p<0.001, p<0.001). Oral health related quality of life was observed in the intervention group (p<0.001). Conclusions: The oral exercise using toothbrushing remarkably improved the oral health related quality of life in the elderly people.