Denture Adhesive Food Occlusion: Validation of a Peanut Extraction Process

Objective: To test the validity of a laboratory process recovering ground peanuts from under a denture with denture adhesive.  This procedure is part of a method used to study the food-occluding ability of adhesives in denture wearers.

Methods: Particle size distribution resulting from mastication by full denture wearers was previously obtained from 5-subjects using image analysis. Particle size distribution was replicated using sieved peanuts previously ground to obtain a peanut standard. Three 0.25g samples of peanut standard were weighed (group-1) and three samples of 0.25g were mixed with 0.5g of denture adhesive (Super Poli-grip® Free, GlaxoSmithKline), (group-2). Each sample was placed in a 600ml beaker with 500ml of 90°C de-ionized water.   Samples were sonicated for 30-min, then boiled for 30-min; passed through 0.25mm sieves and washed with 500-ml of 90°C de-ionized water. After drying overnight at room temperature samples were transferred to pre-weighed aluminum pans, oven-dried at 40°C for 5h and weighed. 

To evaluate the impact to final recovered weights, additional samples of 0.25g peanuts were weighed and distributed in the following groups of 3 samples each: (group-3) stored at room temperature water for 60-min; (group-4) stored at 90°C water for 30-min; (group-5) sonicated for 30-min; (group-6) boiled for 30-min; (group-7) samples oven dried for 5 hrs at 40°C.  Groups 1-6 were processed the same way as group-1.  Recovery % was calculated. 

Results: Percentage Recovery:

Conclusion: Between 18 and 32% of the peanut weight was lost due to water immersion and/or boiling process, likely due to high oil content of peanuts.  Although recovery percentage indicates loss during these necessary steps, values are consistent, proving this method could be used for comparative purposes.