Oral function has an important influence on the the quality of life by facilitating both oral communication and nutritional intake. The purpose of this study was to establish and evaluate a new selfperformed oral training program to help the stay-at-home elderly slow their decline in feeding, swallowing, and articulatory functions. The subjects were 23 support-requiring elderly (4 males and 19 females; mean age: 77.9±6.5 years) who had performed our oral training exercises and oral care plan at home every day for 3 months. Changes in feeding, swallowing, and articulatory functions were evaluated regularly, and oral function improvements were examined. The results indicated that the lip-closure force and oral diadochokinesia increased markedly. Furthermore, the swallowing function improved, and the time required for the first swallow, as indicated by the Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST), showed a significant improvement, particularly in those who could swallow their own saliva less than 3 times per 30 seconds before the training program began. It was concluded that this simple, daily oral exercise program improved the feeding, swallowing, and articulatory functions of support-requiring elderly.

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An oral health survey of mothers who were present at dental examinations for their infants was conducted in four selected prefectures in Japan. The aim of this article was to assess the representativeness of the sample of this survey at different regional levels. The study areas were 33 municipalities selected using a stratified random sampling technique from each prefecture. From November 2005 to March 2006, we conducted oral examinations and questionnaire surveys at 138 sites. The oral examination methodology was the same as that for the national survey of dental diseases in 2005. The questionnaire survey consisted of subjective oral symptoms, knowledge and behavior regarding oral health, lifestyle habits, etc., and most questions were derived from existing national surveys. The number of subjects was 2,786 in oral examinations (response rate: 65%) and 3,301 for the questionnaire survey (response rate: 77%). The average age of the subjects was 31.4 years old. No significant difference was noted regarding the prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease. The percentages of persons with untreated carious and missing teeth were lower in this survey. Regarding the questionnaire survey, most items did not show a significant difference from existing national surveys. However, the subjects in this survey followed a healthier lifestyle and undertook earlier dental visits. A few survey items were correlated with the response rate in each municipality. Although the survey items which showed significant differences from existing national surveys seemed to be affected by the characteristics of the selected prefectures and the subjects who were mothers of infants, the representativeness of the sample of this survey was considerably high. Therefore, this survey was considered to be an useful nationwide data source in Japan.

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Although the prevalence of dental caries among school children is showing a decreasing tendency in Japan, it is estimated to be difficult to reach the goal of 2010 set by "Healthy Japan 21". Presently, the dental health activities of elementary schools mainly involve tooth brushing after lunch, guidance regarding eating between meals, and providing tooth brushing instructions with plaque staining. However, only a few studies have investigated the effect of tooth brushing on reducing dental caries among school children. The purpose of this study was to examine the difference in dental caries occurrence between elementary schools providing tooth brushing instruction and those that did not, at the present time, when the rate of dental caries of permanent teeth has been reduced by half. Two elementary schools performed tooth brushing activities after lunch, but another two schools did not. Other than this tooth brushing activity, all elementary schools had similar oral health management, which is described below. These 4 elementary schools were in the same area, performing continuous fluoride mouth rinsing (5 times/week) and providing tooth brushing instructions by dental hygiene school students as a clinical practice. We compared the presence of dental caries by measuring the eruption rate of first molars and the DMFT index at the time children entered the schools, and by measuring the DMF person ratio, DMFT index, and DMFT index of anterior teeth before their graduation. As a result, there were only a few dental caries noted in children of the 4 elementary schools in this study. It was thought that fluoride mouth rinsing (5 times/week) performed as one of the dental health activities of elementary schools contributed largely to the decrease in dental caries prevalence. In addition, there were no differences in the rates of dental caries among these schools. Therefore, tooth brushing activity after lunch did not affect the incidence of caries in these schools.

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The effect of apple polyphenols (APP) on rampant caries was investigated in hamsters. Sixty male hamsters were divided into 3 groups and all orally infected with Streptococcus mutans. For a 12-week period, all animals received the cariogenic diet 2000 (56% of sucrose). At the age of 42 days, two groups received a supplement of powdered APP obtained from immature apples at low (0.05% APP) and high (0.2% APP) concentrations, and one group served as a control (SU group). Plaque extent and caries destructiveness were assessed using a 0-5 scoring reference. In all molar surfaces, an increasing caries protection was found in the APP groups. The score distribution for plaque and caries per hamster was most significantly reduced in the 0.2% APP group. Categorically, significant differences in plaque scores and in caries scores existed between the 0.05% APP and SU groups (p=0.003), and the 0.2% APP and SU groups (p<0.001), but not between the two APP groups. During the animal experiment the numbers of mutans streptococci in colony forming units (CFU)/ml and their relationships with the numbers of caries score 5 per hamster were determined in three bacterial recoveries: MS Recovery-1 (prior to treatment with APP), MS Recovery-2 (in the middle of the experiment with APP) and MS Recovery-3 (prior to sacrifices). At MS Recovery-2, positive associations were found in the SU group (r=0.67; p<0.001), in the 0.05% APP group (r=0.59; p<0.01) and a negative association existed in the 0.2% APP group (r=-0.18; ns). At MS Recovery-3, decreasing positive associations were found in the SU (r=0.76; p<0.001), 0.05% APP (r=0.30; ns) and 0.2% APP (r=0.17; ns) groups. The results suggest that APP affected the numbers of mutans streptococci in CFU/ml, controlled plaque formation and prevented extensive caries destruction.

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Teenagers are particularly susceptible to gingivitis, and its prevalence increases with age. We proposed the use of electric toothbrushes for maintaining gingival health in high school students. Thus, we evaluated the relative ability of the oscillating/pulsating electric toothbrush Oral-B[○!R] ProfessionalCare[○!R] 8000 (PC) and side-to-side motion electric toothbrush Sonicare[○!R] elite[○!R] e9800 (SE). Moreover, this study investigated the perceived comfort and safety of and preference for electric toothbrushes of high school students using a questionnaire, designed to evaluate the characteristics of the two powered toothbrushes. Dental examination was performed at a high school in all 1st-3rd grade students (15-18 years old, 956 students). Sixty-five students were diagnosed with gingivitis. All subjects were informed about the aims of the study, and 59 gave signed, informed consent. Among the 59 students who entered the study, 48 completed the protocol. Eleven subjects were excluded from the study because they were wearing fixed orthodontic appliances (3 subjects), using antibiotics (3 subjects), or showed poor brushing compliance (5 subjects). This study followed a matched, parallel, examiner-blind design. Subjects were scored regarding the probing depth, bleeding on probing (BOP), and the Turesky et al. modification of the Quigley & Hein index (PlI) in 10 index teeth (17,16,11,26,27,37,36,31,46,47) at the baseline. The PC and SE groups were matched by school grade, sex, the percentage of BOP, PlI, and probing depth. Subjects were instructed to brush twice daily for 2 min without dentifrice. They were given professional instructions for approximately 5 min on the use of either toothbrush. The probing depth, percentage of BOP, P1I, and gingival abrasion were recorded after 2, 4, and 8 weeks. At the end of the study (after 8 weeks of brushing), all subjects completed a questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test for non-parametric, unrelated samples, multiple comparisons test for non-parametric, related samples, and Fisher's exact probability test for subjective symptoms. Overall, there was no significant difference between the two groups in any indices. During the study period, the multiple comparisons test showed a significant improvement in all indices for both powered toothbrushes. There were 4 sites of gingival abrasion in PC and 0 in SE. At 8 weeks, no gingival abrasion was observed in either group. The number of subjects who exhibited bleeding on brushing and oral malodor in both powered toothbrush groups decreased from the baseline to 8 weeks. Some users felt that the head and sound of both electric toothbrushes were too large. In conclusion, PC and SE improved the percentage of BOP, PlI, and probing depth in high school students with gingivitis. The use of both electric toothbrushes can be considered safe untill 8 weeks. PC and SE had almost the same effects on gingivitis in high school students. For prospective electric toothbrushes, a smaller brush head and more pleasant sound while operating would be desirable.

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In Nagano Prefecture, concerning school health statistics, an independent survey is performed every year separately from the national one. A summary of its results is published as the 'School Health Statistics Report in Nagano.' The present study investigated the results of the dental condition of high school students from 2005 to 2006, especially the present situation with regard to dental caries. The survey involved about 60,000 high school students, 15-17 years old, in Nagano. The rate of students with decayed teeth in 2006 was 59.6% in males, and 65.9% in females. This shows a decrease of 3-5% compared with the previous year. When assessing changes in the rate per year by age, it shows, on the contrary, an increase of 3-5%.

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