Many patients visit oral malodor clinics because of malodors which are brought to their attention by friends and family, or because they note the behavior of people around them, they suspect a problem and develop a fear of having an oral malodor. However, only around 30% of such patients actually have levels of malodor high enough to bother other people. Many patients exhibit halitophobia symptoms, which present as selfperception of malodor, and thus have a strong obsession about their smell which results in distress. Here, we carried out a study on 300 outpatients who visited the Tokyo Dental College Chiba Hospital Odor Clinic. We used the Tokyo University Egogram (TEG) to elucidate character traits of affected outpatients and compared the occurrence of TEG types in these patients with those of normal individuals. We discovered that 10.4% of patients were A-dominant type, which was 10.6% lower than the 21.0% of normal individuals. On the other hand, 18.4% of patients were N-type (NP high, FC low), which was 9.9% higher than the 8.5% of normal individuals. Results revealed that very few of the malodor outpatients exhibited the trait that shows intelligence, calm judgment, and self-affirmation, and as a result enjoy their life. Instead, many of these patients tended to show high levels of kindness and appeared to be holding themselves back and exercising patience.

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The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of dental checkupsincorporating tooth-brushing instruction (TBI) with that of conventional dental checkups. A team consisting of one dentist and three dental hygienists saw an average of 60 employees per day on-site at an airline company. The patient's teeth were stained with a disclosing tablet and the results recorded on a Plaque Control Record (PCR) chart. The patient was then given TBI. After recording the relevant data, including TBI given and PCR scores, the charts were stored. Checkups were performed in a total of 3,854 patients between 2001 and 2005 and changes in annual scores investigated. In addition, annual shifts in mean score in patients receiving checkups over all five years were compared with those in patients receiving checkups for the first time in each of the five years. The mean score in patients receiving a checkup in 2001 was 35.1%, declining by 2.6 points to 32.5% in 2005. Among patients receiving checkups over all five years, the mean score in 2001 was 34.0%, declining by 11.2 points to 22.8% in 2005. Over the five-year period, the mean score in patients receiving checkups was 34.1%. In patients receiving checkups over all five years, the proportion with PCR scores <30% increased each year. This was because the number of patients with PCR scores ≥60% decreased each year. These findings suggest that TBI is effective in reducing poor plaque control. When compared with in patients who had not received TBI, five consecutive years of checkups was clearly effective. These results indicate that checkups incorporating TBI are more effective than conventional dental checkups that simply check for caries. In future, this type of checkup should contribute to improved preventative dentistry with minimal intervention.

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The patient was a 51-year-old man who had been prescribed carbamazepine for right third-branch trigeminal neuralgia. He had stopped taking the medication after the neuralgia resolved. When the neuralgia recurred, he resumed medication, and about 1 month later he developed fever, fatigue, cervical lymphadenopathy, generalized skin flushing, facial edema and perioral vesicles, and was admitted to Ichikawa General Hospital, Tokyo Dental College. Oral findings showed reddening and erosion of the buccal mucosa. Routine laboratory examination revealed leukocytosis and hepatic dysfunction. Human herpesvirus 6 antibody titer remarkably increased during development of eruptions. These findings led to a diagnosis of drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome. Carbamazepine was discontinued, and prednisolone (30 mg/day) was started and tapered based on improvement of symptoms. Because skin symptoms recurred after he was discharged 15 days after admission, the dose of prednisolone was increased and the symptoms finally disappeared. The patient has experienced no further recurrence.

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Feeding development in infants is important not only for of the purpose of acquiring nutrition but also for developing the ability to intake liquids. Our previous study showed that the introduction of a straw was appropriate after an infant has acquired the ability to sip liquid from a spoon and/or cup. In this study, we investigated the effect of a bowlshaped spoon on liquid intake. The aim of this study was to determine the appropriate form of spoon for infant feeding development. Eleven healthy infants (3 girls and 8 boys, 10-18 months old, mean age: 13.3 months) were recruited with their guardians' consent. We made 3 types of prototype spoon: A, oval (a standard renge soup spoon); B, flared-out (with the margin of the bowl flared out); and C, hemispherical (with a hemispherical bottom, and smaller than type A or B). We observed infants taking liquid supported by their mothers and evaluated the following responses: 1) confusion with regard to lip position, 2) spillage and 3) choking. Type C showed statistically less confusion with regard to lip position than type A or B (p<0.01), and B showed less than type A (p<0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed in spillage or choking among the three types of spoon. The renge soup spoon is often used to smooth the transition from breast/bottle to cup feeding. In this study, we demonstrated the appropriate spoon form for infant feeding development.

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In dental identification, the collection of intra-oral images is extremely important. We propose the Dental Watch^® as a new device for collecting intra-oral findings in situations where sufficient jaw-opening or adequate lighting cannot be obtained in such cases of dead bodies within a day after death or burned bodies encountered in mass disaster. This device is an improved home video camera for taking intra-oral images. It is lightweight and cordless, allowing it to be operated with one hand, and an audio function allows comments to be made and recorded on obtaining findings at the same time as images are taken. In addition, this device allows images of the entire oral cavity to be taken comparatively easily, even when only a minimal degree of jaw movement is available. This device is extremely useful in situations where a single dentist inspector must obtain findings and make an accurate and detailed Dental Chart.

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The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between number of present teeth (PT) and number of occlusal units (OUs). The data were obtained from a periodontal disease examination based on the health promotion law in Tokyo, Japan in 2005. Data from a total of 1,549 (524 male and 1,025 female) 60-year-old people were analyzed in this study. The number of OUs was counted by analyzing their dental charts. Any pair of opposing teeth of the same type was counted as one OU. The maximum number of OUs in a 28-tooth dentition was therefore 14. Our study revealed that the mean number of OUs decreased along with the number of PT. The OUs of the molars were lost first, followed by those of the premolars. The anterior OUs were last to be lost. The mean number of OUs was always lower than half the number of PT: 10.4 at 24 PT, 7.2 at 20 PT, 4.4 at 16 PT, and 1.3 at 10 PT. In the posterior region (premolars and molars), the mean number of OUs was 4.7 at 24 PT, 2.6 at 20 PT, and 1.0 at 16 PT. For molars, there were 1.4 OUs at 24 PT, 0.6 at 20 PT, and 0.4 at 16 PT. Participants with fewer than 20 PT had fewer than two OUs in the posterior region. This research demonstrates that the number of OUs can be estimated from the number of PT. This knowledge can be used to reveal more detailed information about the oral health status of a given population.

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