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Objective To assess caregiver‐reported dementia as a risk factor for retained roots, an indicator of poor oral hygiene, among patients receiving home‐visit dental treatment in Japan. Methods The medical records of 231 dentate patients who received home‐visit dental treatment (covered by public medical insurance) for more than 2 years were retrospectively analyzed. The number of teeth and retained roots at the initial and final examinations were obtained from the dental charts, and the “change in the number of retained roots from initial to final examination” was determined. The presence or absence of caregiver‐reported dementia, diabetes, and osteoporosis, as well as the level of long‐term care needed, were used as indicators of general health condition at the initial interview. Multiple regression analyses were conducted in five models that tested the association of independent variables (age, gender, observation period, general health, presence or absence of caregiver‐reported dementia at the initial interview) with changes in the number of retained roots. Results In all models, the presence of caregiver‐reported dementia at the initial interview was significantly associated with the change in the number of retained roots (p

Oral health care is important for the acute hospitalized patients, to avoid and reduce negative effects or discomfort during the intensive medical care and burdensome medical treatment. It was reported by a questionnaire survey that oral health care was performed by nurses and careworkers in almost all hospitals in Sendai city, except some specialized functional facilities. Also, the collaborations with the dental offices were conducted in about two thirds of the hospitals. The major problems which interfered with the oral health care in hospitals were serious shortage of manpower, inadequate medical and technical service payment, and the lack of experienced stuffs. These problems might be caused by the lack of information and supervision from the dental professions on site in hospitals. To promote and reinforce the oral health care in hospitals, further close and community-based ­collaboration between the hospitals and the neighboring dental clinics are necessary.

To provide the intensive oral care to the hospitalized and home-care patients, we discuss the current status and improving measures of promoting oral care in Sendai city. The questionnaire survey among the dentists who are working at the dental offices, revealed that one-fourth of the dentists has experiences of visiting to the patient home, other medical facilities, and the nursing homes for the elderly. Half of the dentists who had no experiences to visit patients out of their dental offices, considered that they had prepared ready to go out from their offices by the requests for oral care on demand. To promote the professional oral care for the hospitalized and home-care patients, it would be helpful to open the liaison offices to share information and to collaborate between the medical and dental facilities each other about the needs of oral care.