Abstract
Since the establishment of the school system (Gakusei) in 1872, European and American cultures and educational methods have been positively introduced in Japan. The hygienic or health education at schools was promoted under the leadership of and in cooperation with the government, according to the policies of the Meiji Imperial Restoration, and widely spread by medical doctors and educational administrators from the middle of the Meiji era through the Taisho era. However, dental health education in schools was behind the times partly because the people were late to recognize that dental health should be administratively included in school health education and should be a critical subject of education. It can be generally said that school dental health education was actively promoted by the Association of Dentists and private enterprises, and then infiltrated into the educational world. In other words, the dental health education started outside of schools at the beginning of the Taisho era and gradually became a permanent fixture at schools. As the Showa era started, teachers and school staff came to address it on a regular basis.
