Abstract
It is well-accepted that dental treatment and care can promote oral health-related quality of life (QOL) in general. However, there is still not enough evidence that dental care can improve general healthrelated QOL. Recently, some clinical evidence and basic science data are starting to support the view that dental medicine, e. g., oral functional rehabilitation and control of chronic subclinical inflammation in the periodontal tissues, can promote general health, especially of the aged population. These evidences can be summarized and subcategorized into the following three concepts: 1) oral care lowers the risk of pneumonia in institutionalized elderly, 2) appropriate periodontal treatment reduces the risk of developing and worsening metabolic syndrome, containing type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, 3) appropriate oral functional rehabilitation with conventional prosthodontic treatments can improve physiological and immunological activity in elderly persons. The recognition of these contributions of dental medicine has resulted in two new movements: 1) an intensive campaign to prevent dental caries and periodontal disease in order to keep original teeth intact throughout life (8020 movement), and 2) a paradigm shift in dental clinical decision-making to contribute toward keeping and improving general health by oral infection control and oral functional rehabilitation (Japan Health Promotion in the 21st century). This article reviews the relationship between dental medicine and general health and discusses the future direction of prosthodontics to contribute to general health amid rapid population aging in Japan.
