The aim of this study is to find out the relationship between masticatory ability and the following physical activity, biochemicl values of blood, and self-rating of general health.
The sample consisted of 74 person living in a private residential home with mean age of 74.9±5.2 years. The assessment of masticatory ability was made using the classification of the Eichner Index (EI) based on existing natural tooth contacts between maxilla and mandible. Physical ativities determined were quickness, grip strength, and equilibrium.
The results were as follows.
1) The EI was strongly correlated to masticatory ability determined by test jelly method. With a decrease in support zone based on EI, the masticatory ability also declined.
2) Among physical activities, equilibrium a marked correlation to EI. Equillibrium lower with a deteriorated dental state (EI). Grip strength tended to have a positive correlation to EI.
3) The mean value of total cholesterol, which is known as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, was higher than the normal value in the edentulous group.
4) There was a correaltion between the self-rating of general health and EI. The self-rating tended to be lower with deterioration in dental state (EI).

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The goal of prosthetic treatment is to enhance the quality of life (QOL), especially for theelderly. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relation between the extent of missingteeth and the satisfaction of daily living for elderly people. At Kure city in Hiroshima prefecture, 3, 880 elderly people aged 65 and over were randomly selected and surveyed, using anoriginal questionnaire, about their oral condition and daily living, Of the respondents, 1, 502 were men (mean age 73) and 2, 288 were women (mean age 75). The proportion of respondentswearing dentures were; 23% (201/885) of the subjects with 20 and over remaining teeth, 79% (701/919) of those with 10 to 19 teeth, 86% (751/842) of those with one to nine teeth and 96% (1100/1144) of the totally edentulous. Multivariate analysis revealed that the significant factors insatisfaction for daily living were diet, living-worth, economic situation, feeling, communicationand volunteer. Especially, in subjects with less than 20 remaining teeth, diet was the most important factor for satisfaction of daily living. Although the satisfaction of daily living was almost the same between the group of denture wearers and non-wearers, diet, which was themost important factor for satisfaction of daily living for the wearers was not significant for the non-wearers. These results suggest that the satisfaction of daily living is affected by thenumber of remaining teeth.

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The masticatory function of elderly complete denture wearers who needed care in daily life was compared with that of those who were self-supporting.
The subjects in this study were complete denture wearers at least in either the upper or lower jaw, who were accommodated in special homes for the aged in Shiga Prefecture or who were either admitted or regularly recalled to affiliated clinics of the homes. These dentures had no abnormalities about the fittness and occlusion. Of these subjects, 29 who needed help in some spheres of daily life but were capable of cleaning their dentures without help were assigned to a dependent group (5 males and 24 females, mean age 80.6 years) and 25 who were physically self-supporting to a control group (1 male and 24 females, mean age 78.2 years). They were requested to fill in the food consumption table designed by Ushida (1992) to determine their dietary capabilities for calculating food-ingestion rates. In addition, the occlusal ares and occlusal force were measured using an “Dental Prescale 30H” (Fuji film).
The occlusal area was 17.9±11.3mm² (mean±1 standard deviation) in the dependent group and 19.0±11.2mm² in the control group.The occlusal force was 104.0±65.9N in the dependent group and 104.0±55.2N in the control group.The food-ingestion rate was 61.9±17.5% in the dependent group and 61.3±13.8% in the control group.However, no significant differences were found between the two groups. In addition, no significant correlations were found between the food-ingestion rate and the occlusal area and between the food-ingestion rate and the occlusal force in the both groups.
The above results suggest that the masticatory function of even elderly complete denture wearers under nursing care does not differ from that of elderly complete denture wearers who are self-supporting.

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We examined the relationships between the dental condition of patients with dementia and the type of food served. The subjects were 81 patients with dementia, who lived in a nursing home (average age 80. 6). Most of the patients have Alzheimer's disease. We divided the patients into a regular food group and a chopped food group, according to the way in which their side dishes were prepared. In these two groups we examined Activities of Daily Life (ADL), the Revised Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDS-R), presence of dentures and number of functional teeth. The scoring system of ADL was as follows. Firstly we divided ADL into 5 categories; going to the bathroom, eating, bathing, getting dressed and washing the face. Secondly we gave each person 1, 2 or 3 points according to their ability and calculated the total for each person.
The results were as follows;
1. ADL scores in the regular food group are higher than those in the chopped food group.
2. The number of denture wearers in the regular food group is higher than that in the chopped food group.
3. The number of functional teeth in the regular food group is higher than that in the chopped food group.
4. When patients have more than 8 functional teeth, they tend to have a regular food, while those with less than 7 tend to have chopped food.
5. The way in which the food was prepared did not affect the degree of dementia.
In conclusion, for patients with severe dementia to keep having a regular food, it is thoughtnecessary to have higher ADL scores and more functional teeth.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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We investigated the brushing force, namely the denture brushing force, applied during mechanical cleaning with a tooth brush or denture brush.
The elderly subjects were four males and six females between the age of 66 and 85 years, who wore complete dentures. The dental staff subjects included four males and six females between 24 and 43 years, who had not worn dentures. Five kinds of denture brush and two kinds of tooth brush were used in this study. We recorded strain wave forms while the subjects were cleaning an experimental upper complete denture using the brushes with one-axis strain gages attached to their necks. Then, we converted the strain wave forms into force wave forms in the brushing plane, and measured the grip force for each subject.
In some series of cleaning actions by the elderly, there were short periods with no force to the brush. However, the dental staffs always applied force. The brushing rhythm of the elderly was slower than that of the dental staff. Also the denture brushing force of the elderly was weaker than that of the dental staff. There were positive correlations between the denture brushing forces and grip forces. The shape of bristles affected the denture brushing force. When the brush with a narrow brushing plane was used, the brushing force of the elderly was different from that of the dental staff.
Not all brushes which easily give brushing force for the dental staff are easy for the elderly. Thus, it is necessary to select the brush by having each elderly patient try them personally.

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