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Assessment of Autonomic Function for Oral Care to Improve the Oral Environment
of Mask Wearing Healthy Adults

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M. Sekiya, A. Muramatsu, H. Aoki, Y. Yamamoto, and Y. Mizuno-Matsumoto 2
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Global Nursing, Otemae University, Japan, Graduate School of Informatics, University of Hyogo, Japan,
Rehabilitation Medicine Course, Wakayama Prefectural Medical University, Japan, and Faculty of Health
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Sciences, Department of Clinical Engineering, Aino University, Japan

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the wearing of masks was widely recommended worldwide,
and as such, many people began wearing masks for extended periods of time. Oral dryness caused by
mask wearing is a concern and improvement of the oral environment is therefore urgently needed.

Objective: Based on the oral environment of mouth breathing caused by mask wearing, we evaluated
the effect of oral care on autonomic nervous system function using fingertip volume pulse wave.

Methods: An experiment was conducted to measure salivary secretion and fingertip volume pulse wave
before and after oral care using a sponge brush. We compared the fingertip volume pulse wave
changes before and after oral care in the group with no change in salivary secretion (n=10) and the group
with a change (n=14). Fingertip volume pulse wave is a wave detected at the fingertip as volume changes
in the aorta of blood beating from the heart propagate to the peripheral arteries. Analysis of the pulse wave
amplitude reveals the sympathetic response in the homeostasis of the organism. Generally, a low value is
indicated when the sympathetic nervous system responds. The number of subjects was divided into two
groups based on existing studies

Results: The pulse wave amplitude of the fingertip volume pulse wave was significantly higher in the
group with no change in salivary secretion before oral care than in the group after oral care. The group
with salivary change showed significantly lower values before oral care compared with after oral care.

Poster Presentation Abstracts
Conclusion: It is suggested that the parasympathetic nervous system may respond to oral care in
individuals with high salivary secretion, which helped care for oral improvement. Oral care affects the
autonomic nervous system and could help preventing disease.

Keywords: oral care, oral environment, autonomic function assessment

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Correspondence: Yuko Mizuno-Matsumoto, Graduate School of Informatics, University of Hyogo, Japan
E-mail: yuko@ai.u-hyogo.ac.jp

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