2025 Volume 46 Issue 3 Pages 228-236
To reveal the actual condition of patients, the present survey was conducted on new patients who visited the Yokohama City Center for Oral Health for Persons with Disabilities between 2014 and 2024. From the charts, the number of new patients, gender, referral rate, the patients’ age, major disabilities and diseases, oral diseases, route to medical consultation, method of treatment, and follow-up on the outcome were recorded.
The results are as follows：A total of 1,560 new patients came to the clinic. The male-to-female ratio was 1.6：1, with a slight male predominance. The largest age group was under 6 years old （26.8％ of the total）, with an average age of 23.2 years. The most common chief complaint was dental caries, while the most frequent primary disability and disease was autism spectrum disorder （IQ＜70）. Patients came from all over Yokohama, with 96.3％ coming from Yokohama City. Nine patients came from outside Kanagawa Prefecture, and 23.6％ of patients took more than 60 minutes to reach our center. Both private and public transportation were commonly used. Regarding the method of treatment implementation, 40.0％ of patients were treated with pharmacological behavioral adjustment methods. Of these, general anesthesia was the most common method. The referral rate showed a sharp increase in 2023, with primary medical institutions being the most common referral source. The survey revealed that the Yokohama City Center for Oral Health of Persons with Disabilities is recognized as a secondary medical institution in Yokohama City. The study suggested that there is a need to establish new secondary dental care facilities and strengthen regional medical coordination so that people with disabilities can receive dental care in familiar places, since forward coordination （referrals from primary medical institutions to our center） is progressing, but backward coordination （referrals from our center to primary medical institutions or tertiary medical institutions） is not.
