Effect of removable orthodontic appliance on taste and flavor perception--a clinical study

Abstract

Removable orthodontic appliances are known to be the cause of various complaints related to oral handling of food and beverages, phonation and vocalization. To evaluate the complaint regarding appliance and its effect on taste and flavor perception, 100 volunteers were selected for the study. Two groups (I and II) of 50 children each were divided as study and control groups between the age group of 8- 13 years. Selected volunteers were given taste and flavor stimuli and were asked to score as per their perception in different testing sessions. The overall results revealed that volunteers from both study and control groups, irrespective of the use of removable orthodontic appliances showed marked variation in the estimation of the taste and flavor stimuli in different testing sessions. However, the results obtained were statistically not significant.