Abstract
In recent years there has been a growing concern for the oral care of the elderly, not only for the purpose of keeping the oral health well, but also for chasing how the oral care should be, that is, the attention focused on various aspects directly related to maintaining the quality of life, such as conversation and diet. This has in turn prompted a reassessment of oral health methods. Accordingly, simpler and more efficient ways of teeth brushing and denture cleaning have been devised and reported one by one. Currently these aspects of oral care are evaluated by the established oral condition indices: Greene and Vermillion's OHI (DI) and O'Leary et al's Plaque Control Record. However, the oral care of the elderly tends to be gradual one, and it is difficult to convey the dramatic variations. Also, in the early stages of oral care, there likely to be the attachment of plaque and there are just slight changes which cannot be shown by the current indices. A further problem is that because of the lack of objectivity of judgment, the results vary depending on who examines the patient. In order to overcome these weaknesses, we have devised a method (Iamage Analysis Index: IAI) using standardized imaging and analysis of the oral cavity, and have conducted trials of our standardized oral cavity imaging device.
On testing the accuracy of the standardized oral cavity imaging device and of the image analysis method, we found that both the device and the method were highly accurate.
A favorable correlation was found, after the validity tests were carried out by comparing the current indices with the oral hygiene data gathered by using the new standardized imaging device.
Furthermore, we carried out the practical examination of elderly patients' oral status by using IAI, and tried another examination by using the current indices at the same time. The results indicate that, compared with the current indices, IAI has good sensitivity to the slight changes in the poor oral status of the elderly.
It has thus been confirmed that the use of this evalution index could play an important role in oral care of the elderly and physically or mentally handicapped.
