Purpose: The objective of this study was to confirm the validity of a Self-Implementable method to evaluate masticatory performance using a newly developed color scale and color-changeable chewing gum.
Methods: We developed a dedicated color scale that enables anyone to easily check the color of the chewing gum instead of using specialist equipment. To examine the reliability of evaluating the masticatory performance by the subjects themselves, three groups of six subjects were recruited: a group of dentists, a group of adults and a group of elderly adults were asked to check the colors of the chewed samples using the color scale. The correlation between the use of the color scale and the use of a colorimeter to determine the color of the chewing gum was studied to confirm the validity of the color scale. To assess the reliability, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were determined.
Results: A strong correlation was found between the a* value measured by the colorimeter and the mean scores from the color scale. The ICCs for intra-examiner and inter-examiner consistency were more than 0.88 for all three groups.
Conclusions: This research confirmed the validity and reliability of colorimetric analysis of color-changeable chewing gum using a color scale as a Self-Implementable method of evaluating masticatory performance.