Indications are that Japan is growing old at a faster pace than in any other nation. In 1993, people aged 65 years and over accounted for 13.5% of the nation's population, and in Nagano Prefecture the rate stood at 17.9%, far higher than the national average. In our district, Minamisaku, it was 22.0%, greater than the prefectural average. As aging goes on at a rapid clip, the number of the bed-ridden is on the upswing.
The Saku Central Hospital has instituted a system of home-visit health care since 1988 with the Department of Internal Medicine playing a pivotal role. The Department of Dentistry and Oral Surgery has also commenced a home-visit dental care program since 1990
The patients to whom home-visit care is delivered have a variety of basic diseases. The attention has focused on their treatment. In many cases, their indifference to oral hygiene was responsible for the ailments. Since the mouth is an inlet for bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms, it is important to keep the mouth clean so as to prevent the deterioration of basic diseases. That biting may be done with dentures and other prosthetic devices suggests a feasibility of improving quality of life and working for a better health? Because some reports argue that chewing stimulates the brain, thus helpful in preventing senile psychosis, and because eating is one of the pleasures for the bedridden, the role played by us, dentists, is large. Here we report the present status of home-visit dental care delivered by our department from 1990 to 1995

We studied 1809 oral cancer patients who visited and were treated in 2002 at the 148 institutions certified as training facilities by the Japanese Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, which is composed of 39 dental university hospitals, 44 medical university hospitals, 64 general hospitals, and 1 unknown institution. The patients consisted of 1071 (59.2 %) males and 738 (40.8 %) females (male:female ratio, 1.45:1), who had a mean age of 65.2 years old. The tongue (40.2 %) was the most common site affected, followed by the gingiva (32.7 %), buccal mucosa (10.1 %), and oral floor (9.0 %). There were 6 cases of intraoral multiple cancer. In histopathological examinations, squamous cell carcinoma (88.7 %) was the most common type found, followed by adenoid cystic carcinoma (2.1 %), and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (1.7 %). In addition, non-epithelial tumors comprised 1.8 % , among which malignant melanoma was the most common type. Cases classified as T2N0 were the most common (32.1 %), followed by T1N0 (21.4 %), T4N0 (8.0 %), and T2N1 (7.6 %). Distant metastasis occurred in 17 patients (1.0 %). The sizes of the non-epithelial malignant tumors ranged from 1.0 to 7.0 cm, with a mean size of 3.7 cm.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic ; Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Floors and Floorcoverings ; Gingiva ; Hospitals, General ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Male ; Melanoma ; Mouth Mucosa ; Mouth Neoplasms ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Surgery, Oral ; Tongue

We studied 1809 oral cancer patients who visited and were treated in 2002 at the 148 institutions certified as training facilities by the Japanese Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, which is composed of 39 dental university hospitals, 44 medical university hospitals, 64 general hospitals, and 1 unknown institution. The patients consisted of 1071 (59.2 %) males and 738 (40.8 %) females (male:female ratio, 1.45:1), who had a mean age of 65.2 years old. The tongue (40.2 %) was the most common site affected, followed by the gingiva (32.7 %), buccal mucosa (10.1 %), and oral floor (9.0 %). There were 6 cases of intraoral multiple cancer. In histopathological examinations, squamous cell carcinoma (88.7 %) was the most common type found, followed by adenoid cystic carcinoma (2.1 %), and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (1.7 %). In addition, non-epithelial tumors comprised 1.8 % , among which malignant melanoma was the most common type. Cases classified as T2N0 were the most common (32.1 %), followed by T1N0 (21.4 %), T4N0 (8.0 %), and T2N1 (7.6 %). Distant metastasis occurred in 17 patients (1.0 %). The sizes of the non-epithelial malignant tumors ranged from 1.0 to 7.0 cm, with a mean size of 3.7 cm.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic ; Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Floors and Floorcoverings ; Gingiva ; Hospitals, General ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Male ; Melanoma ; Mouth Mucosa ; Mouth Neoplasms ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Surgery, Oral ; Tongue

Indications are that Japan is growing old at a faster pace than in any other nation. In 1993, people aged 65 years and over accounted for 13.5% of the nation's population, and in Nagano Prefecture the rate stood at 17.9%, far higher than the national average. In our district, Minamisaku, it was 22.0%, greater than the prefectural average. As aging goes on at a rapid clip, the number of the bed-ridden is on the upswing. The Saku Central Hospital has instituted a system of home-visit health care since 1988 with the Department of Internal Medicine playing a pivotal role. The Department of Dentistry and Oral Surgery has also commenced a home-visit dental care program since 1990 The patients to whom home-visit care is delivered have a variety of basic diseases. The attention has focused on their treatment. In many cases, their indifference to oral hygiene was responsible for the ailments. Since the mouth is an inlet for bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms, it is important to keep the mouth clean so as to prevent the deterioration of basic diseases. That biting may be done with dentures and other prosthetic devices suggests a feasibility of improving quality of life and working for a better health? Because some reports argue that chewing stimulates the brain, thus helpful in preventing senile psychosis, and because eating is one of the pleasures for the bedridden, the role played by us, dentists, is large. Here we report the present status of home-visit dental care delivered by our department from 1990 to 1995