Abstract

Swallowing disorders or dysphagia, which are difficulties with the act of swallowing, can occur at different phases such as oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal phase in the swallowing process. These disorders can be caused by structural, functional abnormalities or psychological problems. Dentists can actively provide patients suffering from dysphagia with comprehensive professional care, especially from the cognitive stage of food to the pharyngeal stage of the swallow. Many cases of dysphagia can be improved with careful managements based on dental professionals' knowledge, including meticulous evaluation of masticatory and swallowing functions, training on eating and swallowing, and fabrication of palatal or lingual augmentation prosthesis. The important thing is that prevention of these disorders through the oral health care instruction and planned follow-up dental visit at periodic intervals in order to manage the problems caused by anatomical, functional, and psychological reason.