Hisako Sasahara

An Analytical Study on Gender Differences in Self-Reported Oral Health Care and Problems of Japanese Employees

An Analytical Study on Gender Differences in Self‐Reported Oral Health Care and Problems of Japanese Employees: Makoto Kawamura, et al. Department of Preventive Dentistry, Hiroshima University School of Dentistry—The purpose of this survey was to clarify gender differences in self‐reported oral health care and problems of Japanese employees. A 60‐item questionnaire named Dental Checker® was used in a project on oral health in the working place. Subjects were 77,845 Japanese employees (males, 52,345; females, 25,500). The Mantel‐Haenszel chi‐square test was used to clarify gender differences among respondents. Of great significance was a finding that 81.8% of females felt uncomfortable when they slept without brushing their teeth, as contrast with 58.8% of males (P<0.001, OR=3.22). Nearly one half of male employees answered that they were too busy to go to the dentist, while 36.8% of females answered in this way (P<0.001, OR=1.83). Only a minority reported occasional use of dental floss (males; 13.2%, females; 24.9%, P<0.001, OR=2.04). Significant gender differences were found for all 18 behavioral items, and in each case, females generally reported ‘healthier’ behavior than males. Although differences between genders were small with respect to their assessment of the risk factors of periodontal disease, male employees were more likely to report bad breath, enlarged spaces between teeth, food impaction, chewing restriction, and tooth mobility than females (P<0.001, OR=1.26‐1.78). Findings suggest that gender as well as age remains an important consideration when planning dental health education or other interventions at the workplace.

Japanese dental trainees’ perceptions of educational environment in postgraduate training

Background: Compulsory postgraduate dental training was introduced in April 2006 to meet social requirements in Japan. Aim: The aim of the present study was to identify the difference in trainees’ perception of the educational environment in two different training settings in the Hiroshima University Hospital postgraduate training program: (1) main hospitals, in Hiroshimas case, the University Hospital: (2) community dental hospitals or offices (cooperating hospitals). Methods: In order to determine how trainees perceive their educational environment, the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) Inventory was administered to 50 vocational dental trainees for two different training settings, both of which all trainees had experienced. Result: The mean total PHEEM score in the main hospital was 102.4, and that in cooperating hospitals was 108.5. The scores for each of the three subscales were as follows: ‘Perception of role autonomy’: 33.9/56 (main hospital), 36.8/56 (cooperating hospitals); ‘Perception of teaching’: 38.1/60 (main hospital), 41,9/60 (cooperating hospitals), and ‘Perception of social support’: 30.4/44 (main hospital), 29.8/44 (cooperating hospitals) respectively. Conclusions: PHEEM provided meaningful diagnostic information on the educational environment, and showed that cooperating hospitals met trainees’ needs more than main hospitals.

Bovine milk fermented with Lactobacillus rhamnosus L8020 decreases the oral carriage of mutans streptococci and the burden of periodontal pathogens

AIM   The aim of this study was to find the oral isolate of lactobacilli, which has the potential to inhibit either periodontal, cariogenic, or fungal pathogens in vitro, and to examine the effects of bovine milk fermented with the isolate on the oral carriage of cariogenic and periodontal pathogens. METHODS   The inhibitory effects of the supernatant of Man-Rogosa-Sharpe broth, in which each of 42 oral isolates of lactobacilli grown, was examined. One isolate, Lactobacillus rhamnosus L8020, that showed the potential to inhibit either periodontal, cariogenic, or fungal pathogens in vitro, was used to examine the effects of fermented milk on the oral carriage of cariogenic and periodontal pathogens, which was examined by a placebo-controlled and cohort trial using 50 participants. RESULTS   Edible yogurt containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus L8020 significantly reduced the oral carriage of mutans streptococci (P < 0.01) and four periodontal pathogens examined: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Tannerella forsythia, and Fusobacterium spp. (P < 0.01), but the phenomenon were not observed with the placebo yogurt (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION   These results suggest that yogurt with Lactobacillus rhamnosus L8020 could reduce the risk of dental caries and periodontal disease.

Maternal and Child Dental Health Care at a Public Health Center. II. Relationship between Caries Increment and Life Style in 1.5-year-old Children with and without Caries.

The purpose of this study was to extract the factors which affect the caries increment between 1.5 and 3 years of age by dividing the subjects into two groups, one with and the other without caries at 1.5 years of age.The subjects were 1641 children who received a 3-year-old dental health examination at a public health center in Hiroshima City between April 1990 and November 1991.Eight factors associated with caries prevalence at 3 years of age were examined using multivariate analysis. These factors were ‘Family type’, ‘Order of birth’, ‘Interruption of breast feeding’, ‘Bottle feeding at 1.5 years of age’, ‘Regularity of between-meal snacks’, ‘Drinking sugary beverages’, ‘Watching TV at meals’ and ‘Tooth brushing with mothers help’.The results were as follows.1) The factors related to caries increment from 1.5 to 3 years of age for the children without caries at 1.5 years of age were ‘Drinking sugary beverages’, ‘Interruption of breast feeding’, ‘Watching TV at meals’ and ‘Bottle feeding at 1.5 years of age’, and for the children with caries at 1.5 years of age the factor was ‘Tooth brushing with mothers help’.2) We suggest that more efficient dental health guidance should be given at a 1.5-year-old dental health examination.3) The screening method with the eight variables was valid for prediction of caries increment in the children with caries, but not in the children without caries.