## 3 Results
### Ordacial Muscle Strength by Oral Health Status  
The anterior tongue elevation, cheek compression, and lip compression strengths were the lowest in those experiencing discomfort during chewing due to oral problems, those with a history of toothache in the past 30 days, and those with 0-9 remaining teeth (\(p\) < 0.05). Additionally, all orofacial muscle strengths were the lowest in participants using both upper and lower dentures and those who perceived their dentures as uncomfortable (\(p\) < 0.05). Tongue elevation strength and lip compression strength were also the lowest in participants with pronunciation difficulties due to oral problems or xerostonia (\(p\) < 0.05). The tongue elevation and cheek compression strengths were the lowest among those with six or fewer FTUs (\(p\) < 0.05). Lip compression strength was the lowest in participants who perceived their own oral health as poor (\(p\) < 0.05) (Table 4). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Variables**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**n**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Orofacial Muscle Strength**} \\  & & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Tongue**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Check**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**d \({}^{+}\) (or n\({}^{2}\)) (\(p\))**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Lip**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Orofacial**} \\  & & & **Elevation** & & & **Compression** & & & \\ \hline Mastication & comfortable (fair) & 50 & 46.58 \(\pm\) 11.47 & **0.620** & 24.72 \(\pm\) 6.93 & **0.571** & 16.42 \(\pm\) 3.62 & **0.725** \\ discomfort & uncomfortable & 20 & 39.30 \(\pm\) 11.98 & **0.021** & 20.55 \(\pm\) 6.50 & **(0.024)** & 13.65 \(\pm\) 4.01 & **(0.007)** \\ Pronunciation & comfortable (fair) & 64 & 45.81 \(\pm\) 11.46 & **1.414** & 24.03 \(\pm\) 6.85 & 0.830 & 16.00 \(\pm\) 3.83 & **1.365** \\ discomfort & uncomfortable & 6 & 30.50 \(\pm\) 8.57 & **(0.002)** & 18.17 \(\pm\) 7.25 & (0.050) & 11.67 \(\pm\) 2.33 & **(0.009)** \\ Perceived oral & good & 26 & 45.81 \(\pm\) 12.93 & 0.040 & 25.21 \(\pm\) 6.76 & 0.069 & 17.31 \(\pm\) 3.99 \(\pm\) **0.191** \\ health status & fair & 27 & 45.89 \(\pm\) 11.02 & (0.255) & 23.96 \(\pm\) 7.18 & (0.091) & 15.47 \(\pm\) 3.40 \({}^{*}\) & **(-0.010)** \\ poor & 17 & 40.29 \(\pm\) 11.70 & 20.41 \(\pm\) 6.56 & & 12.88 \(\pm\) 3.12 \({}^{*}\) & **(-0.01)** & 12.98 \(\pm\) 3.12 \({}^{*}\) \\ History of & no & 47 & 46.98 \(\pm\) 11.28 & **0.646** & 24.72 \(\pm\) 6.65 & **0.520** & 16.53 \(\pm\) 3.88 \({}^{*}\) & **0.758** \\ toothache & yes & 23 & 39.43 \(\pm\) 12.06 & **(0.012)** & 21.09 \(\pm\) 7.29 & **(0.041)** & 13.78 \(\pm\) 3.35 & **(0.005)** \\ No. of remaining & 0–9 & 13 & 31.69 \(\pm\) 11.96 \({}^{*}\) & **0.276** & 18.15 \(\pm\) 7.03 \({}^{*}\) & **0.156** & 13.31 \(\pm\) 3.81 \({}^{*}\) & **0.097** \\ teeth & 10–19 & 14 & 500.00 \(\pm\) 9.85 \({}^{*}\) & **(-0.001)** & 26.71 \(\pm\) 6.03 \({}^{*}\) & **(0.003)** & 15.21 \(\pm\) 3.66 \({}^{*}\) & **(0.033)** \\ \(\geq\)20 & 43 & 46.58 \(\pm\) 10.01 \({}^{*}\) & 24.12 \(\pm\) 6.56 \({}^{*}\) & & 16.47 \(\pm\) 3.80 \({}^{*}\) & **(-0.01)** \\ No. of functional & \(\leq\)6 & 17 & 36.47 \(\pm\) 12.92 \({}^{*}\) & **0.152** & 19.99 \(\pm\) 5.93 \({}^{*}\) & **0.105** & 14.29 \(\pm\) 4.41 & 0.085 \\ tooth units & 7–9 & 8 & 49.75 \(\pm\) 11.19 \({}^{*}\) & **(0.004)** & 23.75 \(\pm\) 6.06 \({}^{*}\) & **(0.024)** & 13.75 \(\pm\) 2.31 & (0.051) \\ \(\geq\)10 & 45 & 46.60 \(\pm\) 10.52 \({}^{*}\) & & 24.98 \(\pm\) 7.12 \({}^{*}\) & & 16.47 \(\pm\) 3.75 \({}^{*}\) & **(-0.01)** \\ Use of dentures & no & 49 & 47.02 \(\pm\) 10.34 \({}^{*}\) & **0.210** & 24.73 \(\pm\) 6.50 \({}^{*}\) & **0.105** & 16.35 \(\pm\) 3.91 \({}^{*}\) & **0.100** \\ upper or lower jaw & 8 & 47.63 \(\pm\) 11.05 \({}^{*}\) & **(-0.001)** & 23.75 \(\pm\) 9.31 \({}^{*}\) & **(0.025)** & 15.25 \(\pm\) 3.88 \({}^{*}\) & **(0.029)** \\ upper and lower jaw & 13 & 33.08 \(\pm\) 12.45 \({}^{*}\) & & 18.85 \(\pm\) 5.90 \({}^{*}\) & & 13.15 \(\pm\) 3.05 \({}^{*}\) & **(-0.01)** \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Orofacial muscle strength by oral health status (units: kPa).