Satoko Ohara

Relationship of smoking and smoking cessation with oral health status in Japanese men

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Smoking has been associated with the number of natural teeth a person has and with the likelihood of periodontitis. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between the number of teeth present and periodontal diseases with smoking habits in a cohort of Japanese men. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study group comprised 1088 men, 40-75 years of age. Oral examinations were conducted in dental clinics. Information on smoking status and on oral health behavior was collected from self-administered questionnaires. The relationship between oral health status and smoking status was estimated using adjusted odds ratios. RESULTS Compared with those whom had never smoked, the odds ratios of having more than eight missing teeth and having periodontitis, among current smokers, were 1.67 and 1.74, respectively. In those who had stopped smoking for 11 years or longer, there was no increase in the odds ratio of having more than eight missing teeth and periodontitis, compared with those whom had never smoked. CONCLUSION Smoking has a positive association with missing teeth and periodontitis. However, smoking cessation is beneficial for oral health. The odds of having more than eight missing teeth, or of having periodontitis, in those who had never smoked was similar to that of individuals who reported that they had stopped smoking for 11 years or more.

Relationship of smoking and smoking cessation with number of teeth present: JPHC Oral Health Study*

BACKGROUND Smoking is associated with the number of teeth. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of number of teeth with smoking and smoking cessation. METHODS Subjects included 547 males aged between 55 and 75 years. Oral examinations were conducted in 2005. Smoking status information was collected from questionnaire surveys conducted in 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005. The relationship between having more than eight missing teeth and smoking status was estimated with adjusted odds ratio. RESULTS Comparing with never smokers, odds ratios of having more than eight missing teeth among current and former smokers were 1.96 and 1.86, respectively. The odds ratios in those who had stopped smoking for <or=10 years was 3.02, and for those who had ceased smoking for 11-20 years was 2.66. In those who stopped smoking for 21 years or more, there was no increase in the odds ratio. CONCLUSION Smoking had a positive association with the number of missing teeth and smoking cessation is beneficial for maintaining teeth. The odds of having more than eight missing teeth in those who had never smoked was equal to that of individuals who reported that they had stopped smoking for 21 years or more.

Association between Diabetes Mellitus and Oral Health Status in Japanese Adults

AimThe objective of this study was to analyze the oral health among Japanese adults, with and without diabetes mellitus.MethodologyThe subjects were 518 community residents aged 20 to 91 years in Japan, who participated in the “Akita health and nutrition survey” and the “Akita dental disease survey”, conducted in 2006. The surveys comprised a self‐administered questionnaire, along with medical and dental examinations.ResultsUsing the community periodontal index (CPI), the mean numbers of sextants presenting codes 0, 1 and 2 were significantly lower in diabetics than non‐diabetics among the 59 years or younger age group. Although the mean numbers of sextants with codes 0, 1 and 2 among the 60 to 69 years age group were lower, and sextants with a code X among the 59 years or younger age group were higher in diabetics than non‐diabetics, no statistically significant differences were detected. The tendency of lower mean numbers of natural teeth and functional tooth units in diabetics than non‐diabetics was observed, however no differences were statistically significant.ConclusionThe outcome of periodontal disease seemed to be influenced by the diabetic state to some degree, but a clear association between diabetes and oral health status was not found.

Association between parity and dentition status among Japanese women: Japan public health center-based oral health study

BackgroundSeveral studies have shown that parity is associated with oral health problems such as tooth loss and dental caries. In Japan, however, no studies have examined the association. The purpose of this study was to determine whether parity is related to dentition status, including the number of teeth present, dental caries and filled teeth, and the posterior occlusion, in a Japanese population by comparing women with men.MethodsA total of 1,211 subjects, who participated both in the Japan Public Health Center-Based (JPHC) Study Cohort I in 1990 and the dental survey in 2005, were used for the study. Information on parity or number of children was collected from a self-completed questionnaire administered in 1990 for the JPHC Study Cohort I, and health behaviors and clinical dentition status were obtained from the dental survey in 2005. The association between parity or number of children and dentition status was analyzed, by both unadjusted-for and adjusted-for socio-demographic and health behavioral factors, using a generalized linear regression model.ResultsParity is significantly related to the number of teeth present and n-FTUs (Functional Tooth Units of natural teeth), regardless of socio-demographic and health behavioral factors, in female subjects. The values of these variables had a significantly decreasing trend with the rise of parity: numbers of teeth present (p for trend = 0.046) and n-FTUs (p for trend = 0.026). No relationships between the number of children and dentition status were found in male subjects.ConclusionHigher-parity women are more likely to lose teeth, especially posterior occluding relations. These results suggest that measures to narrow the discrepancy by parity should be taken for promoting women’s oral health. Delivery of appropriate information and messages to pregnant women as well as enlightenment of oral health professionals about dental management of pregnant women may be an effective strategy.

Factors influencing perceived oral health of Japanese middle-aged adults.

The objective of this study was to analyze the relationships between subjective oral health symptoms and clinical oral health conditions on the perceived oral health of 1799 Japanese middle-aged adults. A self-administered questionnaire together with dental examinations was administered. A structural equation modeling analysis with Bayesian estimation was used to examine the factors influencing perceived oral health as a latent variable with 4 other latent variables: subjective oral health symptoms, clinical tooth conditions, clinical periodontal conditions, and other clinical oral conditions. For perceived oral health as the endogenous variable, only subjective oral health symptoms and clinical tooth conditions showed significant relationship. Clinical periodontal conditions and other clinical oral conditions did not show significant effects on the perceived oral health.

Study on caries activity test. II. Caries prediction by simplified ST Media.

We applied the Snyder Test (Simplified S·T MEDIA®) to 4-month-olds and 18-month-olds. This caries activity test depends on the color change resulting from acid production by oral bacteria in a culture medium.In some samples, the pH measured by color comparison did not coincide with the pH measured by pH meter, and we called these misjudged samples. So we investigated the caries prediction by two evaluation methods, the color comparison and the pH measurement. To compare the oral status of the children, we used several indices such as caries prevalence, mean dft, caries severity index, and the caries types in deciduous teeth.As a result, we found that the evaluation of caries activity by pH measurement predicted caries occurence more accurately than the evaluation by color comparison. Therefore to predict caries activity more easily and more accurately, we concluded that the evaluation method of adding a drop of brom cresol green to culture medium after 72 hours culture and dividing caries activity into two groups was suitable.