Satoru Haresaku

Impact of Various Effects of Smoking in the Mouth on Motivating Dental Patients to Quit Smoking

We explored the impact of addressing personally relevant effects of smoking in the mouth on promoting the motivation to quit in a dental setting at personal and public levels. Stages of behavior change and attempts to quit smoking by smokers were recorded during dental visits. Dentists selected and gave motivational information from 24 topics relevant to a patient’s oral health status, risk, or dental treatment. During the dental visit, each topic was presented to patients. Topics of gingival melanin pigmentation and periodontal disease risk were most frequently presented. Progression through stages of behavior change and attempts to quit smoking were observed after presentation of each topic. At a personal level, progression through stages was most frequently observed after the patient was shown an image of pediatric dental caries and smoker’s palate, and attempts to quit was most frequently observed after the patient shown an image of the effects of smoking cessation and pediatric dental caries. At the public level, enhancing the motivation to progress through stages and attempts to quit was most frequently observed after the presentation of effects of smoking cessation and discoloration of teeth, although the intensity of enhanced motivation significantly correlated with the frequency of presentation, which was not the highest for these topics. Although various smoking effects on the mouth have potential impact on promoting the motivation to quit, the impact on enhancing motivation is not necessarily consistent at personal and public levels.

Insomnia and depression impair oral health-related quality of life in the old-old.

A previous study reported that the oral health‐related quality of life (OHRQoL) of Japanese individuals dropped sharply as they reached old‐old age. The aim of present study was to explore the risk factors of OHRQoL by investigating the association of OHRQoL with oral indices, lifestyle and psychological distress.

Association between perception of dentist oversupply and expectations of dentistry: a survey of dental graduates in Japan

BACKGROUND The perception that there is a surplus of dentists may be an opportunity to explore attractive career options in dentistry in Japan. METHODS A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to 2,114 graduates of a private dental school in Japan. We asked about the perception of oversupply, rated by a visual analogue scale, work environment factors, potential areas of dentistry and necessary medical subjects for their dental practice. The association of a strong perception of dentist oversupply with work environment factors, dental areas and medical subjects was examined by multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS The response rate was 66%, and data from 1,203 community dentists were analysed. Most respondents (76%) perceived either a strong or very strong surplus of dentists. A very strong perception was significantly associated with work environment factors, including practising in large cities and earning the second lowest of four levels of annual income, but no further associations were found with either the number of patients treated or with the other two ranges of income. This perception was negatively associated with the number of necessary medical subjects, specifically otorhinolaryngology, but no significant association was seen with the number of potential areas of dentistry. CONCLUSIONS The negative correlation between the aspiration to acquire medical knowledge and the perception of dentist oversupply under the circumstance of the possibly excessive perception among community dentists invites further research on the benefits of teaching oral medicine to graduate entry students to build future working satisfaction.

Effect of an Educational Program concerning Oral Assessment and Healthcare on Nurses’ Performance of Oral Health Checkups in a Hospital.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a group-based educational program on the awareness, attitudes, and confidence of nurses in the performance of oral health checkups.Materials and methods: The subjects (n=184) were nurses who worked in a hospital and an affiliated long-term care facility in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The subjects were divided to an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group participated in the program, which was a combination of a lecture and training program on oral assessment and oral healthcare. To investigate the effect of the program on their awareness, attitudes, confidence, and performances of oral health checkups, questionnaire surveys were conducted before and one month after the intervention.Results: Sixty-two nurses participated in the program. Fifty-five (88.7%) in the intervention group and 68 (84.0%) in the control group who completed both surveys were employed for the analysis. In the intervention group, there were significant differences between the baseline and follow-up in their awareness of detecting oral cancer and confidence in examining oral cleanliness (p<0.05). However, there were no positive changes in their attitudes toward and performance of oral health checkups in either group.Conclusion: These results suggest in addition to the continuous participation of nurses in the program, the introduction of oral assessment tools into their oral healthcare protocols might be needed to promote the performance of oral health checkups in their facilities. We believe that these findings will help promote the performance of oral health checkups in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

Oral cancer screening practices of oral health professionals in Australia

BackgroundTo evaluate oral cancer-related screening practices of Oral Health Professionals (OHPs - dentists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, and oral health therapists) practising in Victoria, Australia.MethodsA 36-item survey was distributed to 3343 OHPs. Items included socio-demographic and work-related characteristics; self-assessed knowledge of oral cancer; perceived level of confidence in discussing oral health behaviors with patients; oral cancer screening practices; and self-evaluated need for additional training on screening procedures for oral cancer.ResultsA total of 380 OHPs responded this survey, achieving an overall response rate of 9.4%. Forty-five were excluded from further analysis. Of these 335 OHP, 72% were dentists; (n = 241); either GDP or Dental Specialists; 13.7% (n = 46) were dental hygienists; 12.2% (n = 41) were oral health therapists, and the remaining 2.1% (n = 7) were dental therapists. While the majority (95.2%) agreed that oral cancer screening should be routinely performed, in actual practice around half (51.4%) screened all their patients. Another 12.8% “Very rarely” conducted screening examinations. The probability of routinely conducting an oral cancer screening was explored utilising Logistic Regression Analysis. Four variables remained statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Results indicate that the likelihood of conducting an oral cancer screening rose with increasing levels of OHPs’ confidence in oral cancer-related knowledge (OR = 1.35; 95% CI: 1.09–1.67) and with higher levels of confidence in discussing oral hygiene practices with patients (OR = 1.25; 95% CI: 1.03–1.52). Results also showed that dental specialists were less likely to perform oral cancer screening examinations compared with other OHPs (OR = 0.18; 95% CI: 0.07–0.52) and the likelihood of performing an oral cancer screening decreased when the “patient complained of a problem” (OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.10–0.44).ConclusionOnly half the study sample performed oral cancer screening examinations for all of their patients. This study provides evidence of the need for further oral cancer-related education and screening training for OHPs, which is vital to enhance oral cancer prevention and early detection.

National survey on the school-based fluoride mouth rinsing program in Japan: proposition regarding final assessment of Healthy Japan 21 in 2010, and in 2020

The purpose of this study is to clarify the spread conditions of the school-based fluoride mouth rinsing (s-FMR) program since 1983 and to estimate the total number of schools and children who would be participating in the s-FMR for proposition regarding final assessment of Healthy Japan 21 in 2010, and to calculate the estimated number in 2020. In 2008, the total number of schools and children who participated in the program were 6,433 and 674,141, respectively. It shows that the number of children participating in the program corresponds to 5.1% of the same-aged population. The estimated number of schools and children participating in the program would approximately be 7,262 and 7,386,231 in 2010, and 14,770, and 1,523,632 in 2020, respectively, calculated on basis of data from 1983 to 2008. We need the cooperation of dental organizations, dental schools, and municipal corporations to achieve the goals in the s-FMR.