Evaluation of tongue motor biomechanics during swallowing—From oral feeding models to quantitative sensing methods

SummaryIn today's aging society, dentists are more likely to treat patients with dysphagia and are required to select an optimal treatment option based on a complete understanding of the swallowing function. Although the tongue plays an important role in mastication and swallowing as described in human oral feeding models developed in 1990s, physiological significances of tongue function has been poorly understood due to the difficulty in monitoring and analyzing it. This review summarizes recent approaches used to evaluate tongue function during swallowing quantitatively mainly focusing on modern sensing methods such as manofluorography, sensing probes, pressure sensors installed in the palatal plates and ultrasound imaging of tongue movement. Basic understanding on the kinematics and biomechanics of tongue movement during swallowing in normal subjects was provided by the series of studies. There have been few studies, however, on the pathological change of tongue function in dysphagic patients. Therefore further improvement in measurement devices and technologies and additional multidisciplinary studies are needed to establish therapeutic evidence regarding tongue movement, as well as the best prosthodontic approach for dysphagia rehabilitation.