Most dentists approve of oral health check-ups for local residents at community pharmacies and desire collaboration with community pharmacists.

Community pharmacies are required to play a role in maintaining the health of local residents. Since September 2015, a national policy in Japan has allowed saliva tests to be used for oral health check-ups at community pharmacies. In the present study, we aimed to reveal dentists' perceptions and expectations for oral health check-ups provided at community pharmacies. A questionnaire survey was administered to dentists at 1,000 randomly selected dental clinics in Tokyo, Japan; 257 responses (25.7%) were included in the analysis and 85.2% of respondents approved of oral health check-ups at community pharmacies. Most respondents who approved of oral health check-ups expected that community pharmacists would recommend that local residents visit a dental clinic (85.8%) and provide a report to dentists (60.3%) after the check-up. Furthermore, 79.0% of respondents desired collaboration with community pharmacies. These findings suggested the potential for oral health check-ups to facilitate collaboration between community pharmacies and dental clinics aimed at maintaining and improving oral health of local residents.

Patient satisfaction with oral health check-ups at a community pharmacy and their effect on oral self-care habits and dental consultation behavior.

Maintaining good oral health is important because oral diseases are related to systemic diseases, and community pharmacies play a key role in maintaining the health of local residents. This study aimed to examine the effects of oral health check-ups and information provision at community pharmacies on oral health-associated behaviors as well as patient satisfaction. We conducted oral health check-ups and provided information about oral health self-care to 84 patients at a community pharmacy, and then asked them to complete a questionnaire survey. One month later, we sent them a follow-up questionnaire and received responses from 66.7% (56/84) of the participants. The large majority were satisfied with the salivary test (95.2%) and the information (96.4%) we provided. Most of the participants (89.3%) indicated that they wanted to use the oral health check-up service again in the future. Compared with baseline, the ratio of participants restricting their intake of sugar-rich foods and drinks significantly increased 1 month later (p = 0.021). About 60% of those who had not undergone a regular dental examination at baseline reported newly visiting or planning to visit a dental clinic. The results revealed high satisfaction with the oral health check-up and information about oral self-care they received at the community pharmacy. The results suggested that oral health check-ups had the potential to change both oral self-care habits and dental consultation behavior. Our findings indicate that community pharmacies can contribute to the maintenance and promotion of oral health by providing oral health check-ups to local residents.

State of mastication affects quality of life in patients with maxillary sinus cancer.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The quality of life of head and neck cancer patients after treatment is poor compared with a typical population sample. However, little is known about patients with maxillary sinus cancer. The identification of symptoms that are most troublesome for these patients and the development of strategies to minimize these negative sequelae should be matters of high priority. STUDY DESIGN: A restrospective study of patients with maxillary sinus cancer who underwent maxillary bone resection. METHODS: Thirty patients with maxillary sinus squamous cell carcinoma participated in the study. The relationships among the degree of masticatory ability, the extent of the surgically resected area, and quality of life after combined treatment of maxillary cancer were evaluated. RESULTS: Scores of all physical and mental factors as assessed by the Short Form-36 questionnaire decreased as the masticatory ability of patients worsened. In edentulous cases, the masticatory ability was higher in the reduced operation group than in the extensive operation group. CONCLUSION: Maintaining adaptability to a denture is essential to preserve quality of life, particularly in patients with anodontia.