Community Dental Health

cover art

Cover Date:
June 2006
Print ISSN:
0265 539X
Vol:
23
Issue:
2

Can oral health promotion help develop masticatory function and prevent dental caries?

Objective: In an effort to promote adequate development of the masticatory system and prevent dental diseases, the Oral Health Promotion Project (OHPP), which focuses on diet, was started in 1984. The intervention was carried out over eight years and then followed up for a further nine years, in a district with no regular dental service, on Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan. The aims of this study were to evaluate the project’s effect on dental caries and masticatory function. Research design: Longitudinal data on the complete deciduous dentitions(IIA) at age 4 (n=163) and on the permanent dentition (IVA) at age 13-15 (n=112) were compared to control age-matched groups , aged 4 (n=105) and aged 13-15 (n=70). The control data were collected from a neighbouring district. Instructions on diet were gradually introduced to those in charge of the subjects’ food regimes. Results: Mothers reported that children born after the OHPP was begun took less snacks and caloric drinks (p<0.001) and more fibre-rich food (p<0.05) than those who born before the start of the project. The number of carious teeth decreased significantly among subjects born after the start of the project. The masticatory function was summarized in one factor using chewing performance, bite force, muscle activity duration time (using EMG) and mean amplitude of muscle activity. The factor score was higher for those born after 1984 than for those born in 1981-1983 and for those in the control district (GLM, p<0.001). Conclusion: It is suggested that OHPP can promote the masticatory function and prevent dental caries, but that it would be crucial to begin intervention soon after birth.

Key words: Breast feeding, dental caries, dentition, development, diet, electromyography, mastication, masticatory function, oral health

Article Price
£15.00
Institution Article Price
£
Page Start
107
Page End
115
Authors
Reiko Sakashita, Naohiko Inoue, Testuya Kamegai

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  1. Editorial - Providing children with the quality dental care they deserve
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  1. The impact of fixed orthodontic appliances on daily life
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  1. Service quality implications of dental undergraduate outreach teaching for Primary Care Trusts in England, UK.
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  1. Prevalence of hypodontia and hyperdontia in paedodontic and orthodontic patients in Budapest
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  1. Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Dental Cognition Questionnaire
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  1. Dental caries experience in preschool children in Veneto region (Italy)
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  1. Improving access to dental care in East London’s ethnic minority groups: community based, qualitative study
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  1. The unequal burden related to the risk of oral cancer in the different regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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  3. 106

  1. Can oral health promotion help develop masticatory function and prevent dental caries?
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  1. The equity of access to primary dental care for children in the North East of England
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  1. Presidential Address
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  3. 122