The most common reasons for elderly needing care include cerebrovascular disease sequelae and disorders such as Parkinsonʼs disease or dementia. Continuous oral health care and the use of prosthetic appliances to support occlusion are required to maintain oral function in these individuals. Here, we report a surgical technique for denture prosthodontics, including denture manufacture and laboratory operations, used in visiting care for dementia patients with communication difficulties and requiring long-term care.　Case 1：The patient was a 90-year-old man diagnosed with Alzheimerʼs-type dementia and wearing complete upper and lower dentures. His family requested to renew his dentures while retaining his metal upper dentures. The treatment protocol mainly consisted of manufacturing duplicate dentures and laboratory operations, such as the repair of existing dentures. The metal palatal floor of the complete upper denture was retained, the artificial teeth were substituted, the resin part was rebased, and a new complete lower denture was made.　Case 2：The patient was an 81-year-old man with Alzheimerʼs-type dementia exhibiting difficulty in swallowing, as reported by his family. To aid ingestion, liquids were thickened and the patient moved his tongue up and down. He was wearing complete upper and lower dentures. As part of the treatment protocol, the complete upper denture was replaced by a treatment denture, and water thickened with a tissue conditioner was utilized to form a palatal augmentation prosthesis for the facilitation of swallowing movements.　The utilization of treatment and duplicate dentures made it possible to reduce the physical and mental burden on both patients during denture manufacture. Moreover, the continuous used for these new dentures led to the maintenance and improvement of oral function associated with chewing and swallowing.

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　Successful initiatives in improvement of oral function include few reports of programs based on regional characteristics. The present study aimed to elucidate whether the elderly living in the community in a snowy and cold district would engage with an oral function improvement program using tablet technology.　The subjects comprised 24 elderly（12 men, 12 women, aged 66 to 81 years old）living independently in the snowy and cold district of Minami Ward, Sapporo. A structured interview survey was conducted before and after a 5-week trial of seven oral function improvement movies delivered by tablet technology during a snowy period.　None of the subjects had previously used tablet terminals. The oral function improvement program was activated by half of the subjects more than 6 days a week, although one subject used it for only 8 days during the study. The application was activated about 2 to 2.5 times per person per day. The interview survey revealed the majority of subjects continuously activated the application and wished to continue with the program.　This study suggests that independent elderly living in the community in a snowy and cold district could continuously engage with an oral function improvement program using tablet technology.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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