Currently there is twelve universities in Japan offering a four-year course for the training of dental hygienists. The School of Oral Health and Welfare, Tokushima University, Faculty of Dentistry was established on April 1, 2007 to foster dental hygienists who can respect bioethics and team-based approach to treatment/care/welfare, who can respond to diverse social needs. More than ten years passed since its establishment, it may be time to seriously ponder the future. In this article, I would like to discuss the direction/future on the School of Oral Health as a four-year course for the training of dental hygienists at universities while comparing it with the history on the school of dentistry for the training of dentists.

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Background: There are few studies showing the association between obesity and gingivitis in young male adolescents. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between gingivitis and obesity in addition to life style habits among male high school students.
Materials and Methods: The participants in this study were 1,027 1^st-year male high school students (15-16 years old) in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Regular health checkup and oral examination were performed. Items regarding oral health behavior and eating habits were investigated through a selfreported questionnaire. Binomial logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the cross-sectional data. Moreover, 513 students who were recalled after two years were divided into 2 groups according to changes of BMI ( <25 or ≥25) and their gingival condition, were investigated.
Results: Binomial logistic regression analysis showed that gingival inflammation was significantly associated with obesity (OR=1.78, 95% CI: 1.08-2.95) in addition to malalignment and plaque accumulation. From this longitudinal study, a significant improvement of gingival conditions was observed in the improved group (McNemar's test, p <0.05) whereas no difference was observed in the non-improved group.
Conclusions: These results indicate that gingival inflammation was associated with obesity. Furthermore, improvement in the management of obesity might be effective for the prevention of gingival inflammation.

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Purpose: Oral Implant Center established in April 2014 as specialized clinical section at Tokushima University Hospital. The aim of this study was to report a survey of new patients of preoperative registration at Oral Implant Center during the five years since its establishment.
Subjects and methods: Investigation of gender and age, chief complaint, details of treatment requests, sites of missing teeth, number of missing teeth, cause of tooth extraction, and treatment status for patients registered at Oral Implant Center from April 2014 to March 2019 were performed.
Results: Regarding the chief complaint, 605 (88.3%) patients consulted preoperatively for a request for implant treatment, and 80 (11.7%) consulted about complain of previous implant treatment or a request for continued maintenance. The average number of missing teeth for which treatment was requested was 3.8. The proportion of patients who wished to be treated for the number of missing teeth was 32.2% for missing one tooth, 56.1% for missing few teeth (2 to 6 teeth), 7.8% for missing many teeth (7 or more teeth) and edentulous 3.9%. As for the details of treatment requests of 80 patients who had already received implant treatment, 33 (41.3%) consulted on the improper superstructure, 29 (36.3%) wished to examine and treat peri-implantitis, 4 (5%) wished to remove the implant and 14 (17.5%) requested continued maintenance.
Discussion and conclusion: The number of new patients regarding implant treatment has been about the same each year, and it was reconfirmed that it was recognized as a treatment method for dental prostheses. In particular, many patients wished to receive implant treatment for a single tooth missing, suggesting that the patients also recognized the importance of preserving the remaining teeth. On the other hand, the number of patients complaining of previous implant treatment tends to increase, and it is necessary to consider future correspondence.

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