The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of personality on the frequency of mechanical oral and denture cleaning in the edentulous elderly. The subjects were elderly edentulous people using maxillary and mandibular complete dentures in good condition. Frequencies of mechanical oral and denture cleaning were investigated by means of a questionnaire. A personality survey was carried out by questionnaire method according to Eysenck on factors of introversion-extroversion and emotional stability-instability. Stepwise logistic regression analyses were used to identify which characteristic factors were significantly associated with frequency of mechanical oral or denture cleaning after all subjects were categorized into two groups by frequency of each type of cleaning in accordance with the criterion of the median. The mean of frequencies of mechanical oral and denture cleaning were 0.9±1.2 times/day and 1.9±1.2 times/day, respectively. It was revealed that autonomy, which was a factor of emotional stability-instability, was associated with frequency of mechanical oral cleaning (odds ratio=1.910, p=0.003). It was also found that activity which was a factor of introversion-extroversion and autonomy were associated with frequency of denture cleaning (odds ratio=3.064, p=0.021; odds ratio=0.382, p=0.021, respectively).The results showed that personality including autonomy and activity influence the frequency of oral and denture cleaning. Consequently, we noted the necessity of providing an effective oral health care regime based on each person's personality.

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Denture wearers complain of oral dryness as the retention force of the denture decreases. The purpose of this study is both to clarify the effects of different types of oral moisturizers and their physical properties on denture retention, and also to determine whether an oral moisturizer can serve as a denture adhesive. Twenty-one types of oral moisturizers (sprays, liquids, and gels), and two types of denture adhesives as controls, were used as test materials. Spinnability tests were performed with a NEVA METER^®. Viscosity tests were carried out using a Brookfield rotational viscometer. The retention strength was measured as follows: each material was placed between the model and the experimental denture base, and a ring placed at the center of the denture base was pulled at a speed of 0.5 N/sec using a spring balance. A statistical comparison of the test results was performed using both a one-way ANOVA and a multiple comparisons test. The mean viscosity for the spray type oral moisturizer was 1.5×10² mPa·s, 3.0×10³ mPa·s for the liquid type, 1.5×10⁵ mPa·s for the gel type, and 1.4×10⁶ mPa·s for the denture adhesive. The mean retention strength was 3.6 N for the spray type oral moisturizer, 14.4 N for the liquid type, 30.1 N for the gel type, and 36.0 N for the denture adhesive. There was a positive correlation between the viscosity and the retention strength of the oral moisturizers (r=0.98, p<0.01). No correlation was found between spinnability and viscosity or between spinnability and retention strength. The gel type oral moisturizers had the same level of viscosity and provided the same retention strength as the denture adhesives used as controls, suggesting that a gel type oral moisturizer may serve as a denture adhesive.

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Saliva plays an important role in bolus formation. But the actual influence of the reduction in salivary flow on bolus formation during mastication has not been fully elucidated. Thus, the aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of salivary flow reduction on the process of mastication and food bolus formation in adults. Twenty adults were recruited as the subjects. Fishsausage and bread were used as sample foods. For eachsubject the food bolus just before swallowing was collected and measured according to texture profile analysis. The timing of the measurement was 40~80 minutes after oral administration of 1.0 g of atropine sulfate, when the salivary flow decreased to half the normal condition. Before administration of atropine sulfate, the same measurement was performed and the data was used as control. The number of chewing strokes and chewing time before swallowing for eachtest food under the atropine sulfate administration was significantly larger than that of the control. The changes in bolus properties for eachtest food under administration of atropine sulfate were similar to those in the normal condition. Some differences were recognized in the cohesiveness of the bread bolus, but there was no significant difference in hardness and adhesiveness of food bolus for eachsample between before and after administration of atropine sulfate. It was suggested that the chewing time is prolonged to form the food bolus suitable for swallowing when salivary flow is reduced.

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A system of home dental care support clinics was launched in 2008 in Japan; however, little information is available about the actual situation of the clinics. The purpose of the present study was to examine the factors to promote home dental care by home dental care support clinics in Japan. A total of 2,304 clinics responded to our mail survey, which was conducted from April to June, 2009. Of these, 482 (20.9%) clinics did not haveany patients during the 3 months of the survey period. Logistic regression analysis showed that increases in the numbers of dental hygienists and nursing homes as clients were strongly associated withthe number of patients receiving home dental care. In addition to the number of dental hygienists and nursing homes as clients, the number of dentists contributes to the number (especially, 100 or more patients per 3 months) of patients. These results suggest that the dissemination of information about home dental care supporting clinics not only to nursing homes but also to care managers, hospitals and home nursing stations is needed. In addition, an increase in the number of dentists in the clinics is needed to facilitate home dental care in Japan.

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[in Japanese]

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In order to evaluate the water retaining property, the method for measuring the changes of both water content and weight in the samples absorbed on filter papers when dried with a hair dryer were developed. In both the conditions of moisturizer only and water plus moisturizer, the residual rates of both water content and weight of liquid type (M-1,M-2) and jelly type (M-3) oral moisturizers were calculated. In the results, differences were seen between M-1 and M-2, and also between liquid type and jelly type. Therefore, it was suggested that the filter paper method might be useful for evaluating the commercial oral moisturizers in regard to water retaining capability.

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To extend professional oral care, it is important to recognize the pathological condition and risk management issues of the patients needing oral care by dental professionals. The effectiveness of oral care by the dental professionals has been identified in several studies. However, investigations concerning the physical status and problems of elderly inpatients for whom professional oral care has been requested by the attending doctor are clearly understood. The purpose of this study is to clarify the physical status and problems in elderly inpatients receiving oral care. The subjects were 107 elderly (55 males and 52 females;mean age 78.1±9.7), who received professional oral care at the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology. We investigated the attending department, main systemic disease, medical history, infectious disease, dementia, activity of daily living, nutritional status including feeding methods, communication ability and practical problems during professional oral care. The underlying diseases of the patients who received professional oral care were wide-ranging. High levels of expertise and oral care skills as well as risk management are required to perform oral treatment for inpatients. The dental-services community needs to recognize the significance of appropriate high-level oral care and its difficulty. It is necessary for dental professionals to be aware how difficult it is to implement oral treatment, and to learn whole-body management through continuing education from the perspective of risk management.

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[in Japanese]

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