It is often said that in healthy people good health brings a long life, that people who chew well do not get dementia, and that healthy teeth are genetically determined. However, until ten years ago, there was hardly any data on the relation between occlusion and the general physical condition. By considering occlusions of the elderly from the standpoint of dentists, both eating (biting, crushing, and grinding) and speaking are important functions of the oral cavity, hence maintenance of health and general physical activity is greatly affected if either of these functions is impaired.
There are wide individual differences in people's Ikigai. Ikigai is Japanese word which includes the concepts of objective quality of life as meaningful. But as a result of aging, or of the person's surroundings, the quality of life undergoes considerable change. Though there are many factors contributing to the quality of life of the elderly, general health must be one of the principal ones. However, the quality of life gradually changes as a result of general health, aging or the aging person's surroundings, and moreover, the decline is inevitable.
Recently we measured the masticatory ability of the elderly, using a jelly we devised for objective judgement of masticatory ability (G-jelly). In this paper, our survey of masticatory ability of the elderly (65to 84 years) and its relation to their general physical condition (body weight, gripping strength, balance, bone mineral volume), which was carried out using the jelly, was reported. The results suggested that people who have good masticatory ability are those who also have a good general physical condition.