著者

Hiroki Iwata Koichi Shibano Mitsuhiro Okazaki Kotaro Fujimaki Noriko Kobayashi Kazuko Fujimoto Naoko Hayashi Tomoyuki Goto Katsunori Yamaura

出版者

International Research and Cooperation Association for Bio & Socio-Sciences Advancement

雑誌

Drug Discoveries & Therapeutics (ISSN:18817831)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.14, no.6, pp.319-324, 2020-12-31 (Released:2021-01-23)

参考文献数

18

被引用文献数

1

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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.