2023 Volume 37 Issue 4 Pages 320-328
Objective：Hospital dentistry plays a variety of roles and can also contribute to gerodontology；however, it is not widely available. The purpose of this study was to promote hospital dentistry by clarifying its perception among hospital directors using a questionnaire survey.
Methods：A questionnaire survey on hospital dentistry was conducted between March 7 and 25, 2022. The respondents were directors of hospitals that had a full-time affiliated dentist who was a member of the Japanese Society of Gerodontology. The questionnaire consisted of 14 questions concerning hospital dentistry including the most desired hospital dental services, the most expected benefit of hospital dental services, areas for improvement, and the necessity of hospital dentistry.
Results：A total of 232 hospital directors were surveyed. Responses were collected from 86（37.1％）. The provision of general dental treatment and oral hygiene management of medical inpatients were the most desired hospital dental services. The most expected benefit of hospital dentistry was its contribution to improving the quality of medical care, while profitability was the most desired improvement（25.6％）. The median need of dentistry was 10（range：8-10；scoring：0 = not necessary at all to 10 = essential）.
Conclusion：Many of the respondents had a favorable opinion of hospital dentistry and almost all of them believed that it is necessary. Since directors of hospitals expect hospital dentistry to provide general dental treatment and oral hygiene management of medical inpatients, it is necessary to incorporate it as a hospital service, improve its profitability, and demonstrate its effectiveness in order to promote hospital dentistry.
