A Survey of Medical Inpatient Dental Services by Hospital Dentistry

Abstract

　Objective：A questionnaire survey of hospital dentists was conducted to understand the current status of hospital dentistry related to medical inpatients.

　Methods：The survey was conducted with a questionnaire or web form for hospital dentist members of the Japanese Society of Gerodontology from January 18 to February 19, 2021.

　Results：Responses were obtained from 182 of 329（153 facilities）（response rate：55.3％）. When the most common dental tasks were categorized into “outpatient services,” “medical inpatient dental services,” “dysphagia rehabilitation,” “oral surgery” and “home-visit dental treatment,” “medical inpatient dental services” was the most common（36.3％）. Of all the dental tasks, 40％ of the time was spent on “medical inpatient dental services” and 10％ on academic activities. When the responding facilities were categorized by the most common dental task, the number of dental chair units was significantly lower in “medical inpatient dental services” （3.0±2.4）than in “outpatient services” （5.2±5.0）and “oral surgery” （6.3±3.7）. The number of full-time dentists was significantly lower in “outpatient services” （3.0±4.3）and “medical inpatient dental services” （2.2±2.7）than in “oral surgery” （5.4±5.5）. The rate for good profitability was 55.0％ for “oral surgery” and 47.7％ for “medical inpatient dental services.”

　Conclusion：In this survey, “medical inpatient dental services” was the most common response. This type of service is directly related to gerodontology, because the target patients are mostly older adults. This type of hospital dentistry may be done in a small office and is relatively profitable. As the aging of society progresses, it will be necessary to encourage clinical and academic activities to further develop hospital dentistry for older adults.