摘要:Declining gustatory function, nutrition, and oral health are important elements of health in older adults that can affect the aging process. The aim of the present work was to investigate the effect of age and oral status on taste discrimination in two different groups of elderly subjects living either in an Italian residential institution (TG) or in the community (CG). A total of 90 subjects were enrolled in the study (58 CG vs. 32 TG). Masticatory performance (MP) was assessed using the two-color mixing ability test. Taste function was evaluated using cotton pads soaked with six taste stimuli (salty, acid, sweet, bitter, fat and water). A positive correlation between age and missing teeth (r = 0.51, C.I. [0.33; 0.65