Influence of Chin-down Posture on Tongue Pressure during Dry Swallow and Bolus Swallows in Healthy Subjects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of chin-down posture and bolus size on tongue pressure during swallowing. Eleven healthy volunteers (7 men, 4 women; age range = 26–59 years) participated in the experiments. Tongue pressure during dry and 5- and 15-ml water swallows in neutral and chin-down postures was measured using a sensor sheet system with five measuring points on the hard palate. Sequential order, maximal magnitude, duration, and integrated value of tongue pressure at each measuring point were compared between postures and bolus sizes. Onset of tongue pressure at posterior-circumferential parts occurred earlier in dry swallow than in 5- and 15-ml water swallows in each posture. Chin-down posture was most effective for increasing tongue pressure in the 5-ml water swallow compared with dry swallow and the 15-ml water swallow, but it had almost no influence on tongue pressure with the 15-ml water swallow. These results suggest that chin-down posture increases the tongue driving force for small boluses in healthy subjects, which can be interpreted to mean that oropharyngeal swallowing in a chin-down posture requires more effort.