Pengaruh usia lanjut terhadap fungsi pengunyahan
P Proses menua adalah proses fisiologis yang dialami oleh semuamanusia seiring dengan bertambahnya usia. Meskipun proses ini berusahadihindari, tetapi tetap harus dijalani. Proses pengunyahan dimulai denganmasuknya makanan ke dalam rongga mulut, kemampuan kunyah secaralangsung diperankan oleh gigi, saliva, sendi temporomandibula, lidah, danotot pengunyahan. Kehilangan gigi dapat menyebabkan ketidakharmonisandalam relasi sentrik dan oklusi sentrik. Gangguan sendi temporomandibulapada populasi usia lanjut membuat frustasi para praktisi karena penyebabnyasangat kompleks. Diagnosis dan perawatannya memerlukan perhatianterhadap faktor fisiologis dan biokimia akibat perubahan yang disebabkanbertambahnya usia, untuk mengatasinya khususnya pada penderita tanpagigi dianjurkan segera menggunakan gigi tiruan, guna mengembalikan fungsipengunyahan, fonetik, dan estetik tanpa mencederai mukosa mulut dan senditemporomandibula.
T The Aging is actually a physiological process which is undergone byall people within their life time as they grow old. The influence of growingold have been studied and have been tried to be avoided, but in fact thesolution still couldn’t be found. Process of mastication is began by the foodthat is put into our mouth. The mastication capacity is directly portrayed bythe teeth, saliva, temporomandibular joint, tonge, and also the muscle ofmastication. The absence of several teeth may cause the unbalance rulesof the centrical relation and centrical occlusion. The traumatical injury ofthe temporomandibular joint in the infirm population often confuses thedental practition due to the complex factors that may causes this damage.A serious attention should be paid toward the physiological factors andbiochemistry factors due to the change that are evoked by the increase ofage to determine the diagnose and the best treatment. To overcome thedegeneration function of mastication, the edentulous people arerecommended to use the full denture soonly to restore their function ofmastication, the fonetics function and the estetics function withoutdamaging the oral mucouse and the temporomandibular joint.