Abstract
The "Cooperative Dentists System for Workplace Dental Health Promotion" was established in 1988 by the division of adult and industrial dental health, Toyama Dental Association. The purpose of this system was to promote and maintain oral health at workplaces through providing dental health examinations and dental health education. About 70 percent of the association members registered as cooperative dentists. In this study, we analyzed oral health status and dental health behavior of workers in large company who had been receiving dental health promotion activities for 14 years. The following results were obtained. 1. In the workplace where we provided dental health promotion activities for a long term, the rate of workers who brushed their teeth more than three minutes and also more than twice a day increased over 14 years. 2. The decrease of mean decayed teeth (DT) and mean missing teeth (MT) and the increase of mean filled teeth (FT) were observed. However, the total number of teeth and the treatment needs for periodontal disease did not change. 3. After implementing workplace dental health promotion activities, a temporary increase of dental expenditure was observed. However, over a long term, the ratio of dental expenditure to total medical expenditure decreased by 4-6 percent. From these results, it was suggested that oral health status and dental health behavior were improved, and we speculate that dental expenditure was saved by our workplace dental health promotion activities.
