We examined the methods for evaluating the oral condition from the dental health examination results arising from the public health examination. Furthermore we suggested a method for presenting oral condition data to the subjects in an interesting way.
At first we gave an evaluation score for each remaining tooth and prosthetic tooth. We suggested that calculating a “Functional Tooth Evaluation Score (FTES) ” from the 28 teeth scores in total. From this FTES, we calculated the “Functional Tooth Age (FTA) ” which was different from the subjects'real age, and tried to utilize this FTA as an index of the oral condition.
We carried out the investigation on 1, 500 people, 750 men and 750 women who had a dental health examination. As a result, the FTES which we suggested reflected the subjects' age as well as the number of remaining teeth. Therefore, we were able to utilize it to calculate the FTA as an index of the oral condition.
In other words when we assumed y=FTES and x=Age, a regression equation was obtained;
y=-0.0005x³+0.057x²-2.4685x+123.36
Therefore we estimated this equation reversely by using Newton's method (Newton-Raphson's method) and found the FTA, which was different from the real age.
Furthermore, we became suggested that we could use the FTA to improve subjects' awareness of their oral condition with a view to preventing oral diseases.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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Objective: To investigate the relationship between drugs and serum zinc level in the elderly.
Subjects: 414 persons (223 males and 191 females) born in 1927 (aged 75 years).
Methods: Drug- intake survey and questionnaire on taste were performed. Zinc and copper in serum were measured.
Results: The zinc levels in serum were significantly decreased in subjects who used drugs compared to those who did not use any drugs. Mean zinc levels (μ g/dl): no use of drugs 80.53±13.29; use of 1-4 drugs/subjects 76.19±12.98 (p<0.01); use of over 5 drugs/subjects 76.11±11.23 (p<0.01). The mean number of drugs/subject was 2.6±2.8. A low zinc level of <65, μg/dl was found in 12.6% of the subjects. The questionnaire regarding taste showed that 14.5% of subjects were aware of certain taste disorder.
Conclusion: The serum zinc level significantly decreased with the increase of the number of drugs in use.

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