This project examines the status of various oral tissues during physiologic aging. The current emphasis is to study cross-sectional and longitudinal effects of aging on oral physiology in a variety of populations: healthy caucasians and blacks of different ages, and patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type. Healthy caucasians are being followed in two studies, at the Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD and at the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging in Baltimore, MD. A newly initiated protocol proposes to examine healthy community dwelling blacks in a collaboration with Howard University Dental School. Additional studies on oral physiology have been initiated concerning the influence of systemic disease on aging and its impact on oral health. Clinical evaluation of volunteer participants involves an oral health questionnaire, collection of unstimulated and stimulated parotid and submandibular gland salivas, a comprehensive examination of dental, periodontal, and mucosal tissues, an oral motor exam, and the determination of pressure, gustatory, and olfactory sensitivities. During this reporting period, results from cross-sectional studies utilizing healthy subjects suggest: (1) the condition of the oral mucosa is unaffected by increasing age; (2) menopause and hormone replacement therapy have no observable effects on salivary gland function; (3) in individuals of different ages, normal oral health is supported by a wide range of salivary fluid output. Results from a group of unmedicated patients with early-stage dementia of the Alzheimer type suggest the presence of a selective impairment in submandibular gland function.
