Postural sways related to stomatognatic proprioception in elderly.

Postural control requests an automatic process that involves central and pheripheral inputs such as visual, vestibular and proprioceptive ones. The level of automatic is modulated by complex cognitive activities. The efficiency in postural control is modified by a cognitive task in old people with/without cognitive impairment. Odontostomatognatic inputs have shown to influence postural control in children and adults. In elderly the presence/absence of denture can modify the odontostomatognatic functioning, but there is no safe knowledge about the relationship between postural control and odontostomatognatic modification. We investigated possible differences in postural sways at rest between elderly subjects, with/without denture, with normal cognitive functioning and mild-moderate cognitive impairment. Moreover, we analyzed possible differences in postural sways during an interpolated cognitive task. Finally we investigated which indices, in aged subjects, of health status influence postural indices.