• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.383-396
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• 2007

The aim of this study was to measure the suprathreshold taste intensity for NaCl, sucrose, citric acid, and quinine HCl in elderly Korean women using a whole-mouth, sip-and-spit procedure, employing the method of magnitude matching. The results were analysed in terms of aging, menopause, and salivary flow rate. 31 elderly women (mean age; $50.8{\pm}5.1$ years) and 30 young women (mean age; $25.1{\pm}1.71$ years) were included for the study. Subjects were instructed to give nonmodulus magnitude estimates to the intensities of five concentrations each of sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, and quinine HCl; distilled water; 6 loudness level of a 1,000-Hz tone, using the same 9-point intensity scale. Each of the 21 taste stimuli and 6 auditory stimuli are presented in random order twice. The auditory function is used to assess the absolute intensity function of the subject's taste system. The results were as follows; 1. Comparing to young women, elderly women showed decreased taste intensities for lower concentration solutions of NaCl and sucrose. However, other solutions didn't show any difference in taste intensities between young and elderly women. 2. There were not significant difference in perceived taste intensities for NaCl, sucrose, citric acid, and quinine HCl between menopause and pre-menopause women in elderly women group. 3. There were not significant difference in perceived taste intensities for NaCl, sucrose, and quinine HCl between low salivation women and high salivation women in elderly women group. 4. The low salivation women in elderly group showed higher taste intensity for low concentration citric acid than high salivation women.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.149-162
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• 2005

The aim of this study was to measure the suprathreshold taste intensity for sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, and quinine HCl in Korean young people using a whole-mouth, sip-and-spit procedure, employing the method of magnitude matching. The results were analysed in terms of sex, taste preference, and smoker or nonsmoker. One hundred twenty three subjects (61 male and 62 female, mean age of 25.2$\pm$2.1 years) were included for the study. Subjects were instructed to give nonmodulus magnitude estimates to the intensities of five concentrations each of sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, and quinine HCl; distilled water; 6 loudness levels of a 1,000-Hz tone, using the same 9-point intensity scale. Each of the 21 taste stimuli and 6 auditory stimuli are presented in random order twice. The auditory function is used to assess the absolute intensity function of the subject's taste system. The results were as follows; 1. The perceived taste intensity for sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, and quinine HCl increased progressively as the concentrations of taste solutions were increased. Most of the subjects are standing within the zone of mean value $\pm$1standard deviation in their total perceived intensity score, and nobody is outside the limit of mean value - 2standard deviation. 2. There were not significant difference in total perceived intensities for sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, and quinine HCl between males and females. 3. There were not significant difference in total perceived intensities for sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, and quinine HCl according to the difference in taste preference. 4. There were not significant difference in total perceived intensities for sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, and quinine HCl between smokers and non-smokers in males.