The aim of this study was to survey the chief complaints of first-appointment patients at the Department of
Dentistry, Toranomon Hospital. The age, gender, chief complaints, and name of diseases (in case of inpatients) of
first-appointment patients, comprising both outpatients and inpatients, were surveyed for 12 months from July 1st,
2011 to June 29th, 2012. The chief complaints were classified into 17 items: Dental examination, Scaling/Cleaning,
Periodontal disease, Caries, Dislodgement, Denture, Bridge, Implant, Extraction, Temporomandibular dysfunction
syndrome, Hypersensitivity, Oral mucosal disease, Sleep apnea syndrome, Whitening, External injury, Second
opinion, and Others. The number of first-appointment patients was 1,263 (Male: 684 Female: 579), (Outpatients:
757 Inpatients: 506). This survey revealed that four items, namely, dental examination, caries, periodontal disease,
and denture accounted for 69.2% of all chief complaints. Five items, namely, caries, periodontal disease, scaling,
hypersensitivity, and whitening in conservative dentistry accounted for 38.4%; this figure was about three times
the number of chief complaints in prosthodontic dentistry or oral surgery. Leukemia (91 cases), Esophageal cancer
(55 cases), Myelodysplastic syndrome (30 cases), Lung cancer (27 cases), Malignant lymphoma (24 cases), and
Pneumonia (20 cases) were frequently recorded in inpatients.
View full abstract