Abstract
The Great East Japan Earthquake, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011,generated a series of large tsunami waves that struck the east coast of Japan. The earthquake and tsunami waves caused widespread devastation across a large part of northeast Japan, with more than 18,000 lives lost, Presently at least 2600 people remain missing, while hundreds of thousands were displaced from their homes as towns and villages were destroyed or swept away. As a result, many aspects of public infrastructure in that region have been impaired by devastation and loss.The purpose of this study was to prepare for development of a pediatric dental care support system for use in case of disaster. We sent a questionnaire regarding dental health care aid activity following The Great East Japan Earthquake to all 29 dental universities (public and private) in Japan that have a Department of Pediatric Dentistry.1.The response rate was 86.0% (25 of 29 returned).2.Ambulatory care at 12 pediatric dentistry departments was affected by The Great East Japan Earthquake.3.Following the earthquake, about 1 week was required for ambulatory care to return to normal in the Kanto district, while it took about 1 month in the Tohoku district.4.Fifteen pediatric dentistry departments sent dental relief supplies to stricken areas and 7 departments provided dental care support in those areas.We believe that it is very important for dental care professionals to work in coordination with medical and welfare specialists when a disaster occurs. It seems that even though all of the pediatric dentistry departments did their best to support stricken areas, there was no common support system for pediatric dentistry in case of a disaster, which was problematic. It is important to develop a pediatric dental care support system for disasters, which are highly likely to occur in the future. The present findings can greatly contribute to the welfare of affected communities and their citizens.
