ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the therapeutic effects of finger pressing on Hegu acupoint on nausea and to find an optimal method to reduce nausea in first-time complete denture wearers. Methods:Forty-one first-time complete denture wearers who received treatment between June 2016 and December 2019 in Huxi Hospital Affiliated to Jining Medical University were included in this study. They were randomly divided into observation group ( n = 21) and control group ( n = 20). The observation group received finger pressing on Hegu acupoint for 3 minutes before complete denture wearing and before three meals. The control group received self-adaptive therapy. After 3, 7 and 14 days of wearing complete denture, the number of wearers without nausea, the number of wearers with normal swallowing function, and the number of wearers with masticatory efficiency were recorded in each group. Efficacy was compared between two groups. Results:After 3 and 7 days of wearing complete denture, the percentage of complete denture wearers without nausea was 85.71% (18/21) and 95.24% (20/21), respectively, which were significantly higher than those in the control group [45.00% (9/20), 65.00% (13/20), χ2 = 5.58, 4.19, both P < 0.05 ]. After 14 days of wearing complete denture, there was no significant difference in number of wearers without nausea between observation and control groups ( P > 0.05). After 3 days of wearing complete denture, there was significant difference in percentage of wearers with normal swallowing function among total number of complete denture wearers between observation and control groups [57.14% (12/21) vs. 15.00% (3/20), χ2 = 8.16, P < 0.01). After 7 and 14 days of wearing complete denture, there was no significant difference in percentage of wearers with normal swallowing function among total number of complete denture wearers between observation and control groups (both P > 0.05). After 3 and 7 days of wearing complete denture, masticatory efficiency in the observation group was (42.03 ± 5.02)% and (50.34 ± 5.05)%, which were significantly higher than those in the control group [(37.00 ± 4.00)%, (47.13 ± 4.03)%, t = 3.51, 1.65, both P < 0.05]. After 14 days of wearing complete denture, there was no significant difference in masticatory efficiency between the two groups ( P > 0.05). Conclusion:Finger pressing on Hegu acupoint has good clinical effects on alleviating nausea in complete denture wearers and can shorten the adjustment time to first time wearing complete denture.