[Effect of oral health care program on the oral function of the elderly].
In order to prepare a new prevention program under the long term care insurance from the fiscal year 2006, we have organized an oral health care program for the elderly in a town of Kagoshima prefecture. We conducted a series of oral health education, i.e., instruction on brushing and flossing, and oral function exercises. Before and after the three months program, we evaluated the unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rate, the counts of S. mutans, the counts of repetitive saliva swallowing test (RSST), bilateral bite force and the number of permanent teeth and artificial teeth. According to the results, a statistically significant improvement was observed in RSST and the unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rate, but not in the S. mutans level and bite force. The present research suggests the effectiveness of the oral health care program for the aged. A larger sized and longer period intervention will be necessary in order to validate our findings.
Ibayashi
Haruhisa
H
Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu 807-8555, Japan.
Yano
Junko
J
Minh
Pham Truong
PT
Tanaka
Masayuki
M
Nishiyama
Tomohiro
T
Sakai
Kazuyo
K
Matsuda
Shinya
S
Kobayashi
Atsushi
A
Yakura
Naonori
N
D000368:Aged; D001732:Bite Force; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D012463:Saliva / Q000502:physiology; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014070:Tooth