Abstract
Dental health services for the frail elderly should be provided under multidisciplinary cooperation within the community and not only by clinic-based dentistry. In this article, a medical and dental collaboration in Nagasaki was introduced, and the need for "medico-dental cooperation" to improve oral functions of the elderly was discussed. The concept of community rehabilitation was presented to the Committee on "Netakiri Zero Strategy in Nagasaki Prefecture", which was held in1991, and inevitably, the need for oral rehabilitation for the frail elderly, through eating support by the dental and medical occupations, was spread. In 1977 the Oral Care Network System for Stroke was started as a means of medico-dental cooperation in Nagasaki. Under the Oral Care Network System for Stroke, approximately 1,000 domiciliary dental visits have been conducted by the Nagasaki city dental association in each year after 1997. As the system for domiciliary dental services has been firmly established in Nagasaki, the situation has also spread to nationwide. It is important for more comprehensive oral health care to strengthen the cooperation with nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and care managers, and to expand joint care with nutritionists from home care to hospital care, under cooperation with physicians providing domiciliary medical care. Providing multidisciplinary care is effective to support smooth eating for the frail elderly in the community.
