Utilization of oral check-up data of autopsy cases

The maintenance of oral health contributes to the overall health of an individual. Similar to the Adult Dental Health Survey in the UK, the Survey of Dental Diseases (SDD) is being conducted in Japan. However, our routine oral examination of autopsy cases showed that the oral cavities of the autopsied bodies were unhealthy as compared to the SDD data. Therefore, this study sought to understand the actual condition of the oral cavity and to clarify the factors related to the degradation of the oral status. This was achieved by comparing the data of the SDD subjects and autopsy cases in terms of the average number of teeth lost, the average total number of caries (number of decayed, missing, or filled teeth), percentage of people with untreated teeth, and 80-20 achievement rate (percentage of people aged 80 years with 20 or more teeth). Furthermore, this study investigated the relationship between the average number of missing teeth and smoking, psychiatric disorders, and body mass index (BMI) in autopsy cases. The oral condition of all autopsy cases was worse than that of SDD subjects. The 80-20 achievement rate was observed in more than half of the SDD subjects and only in less than 20% of the autopsy cases. Moreover, the average number of missing teeth was not significantly different depending on smoking status, BMI, and presence of psychiatric disorders in the autopsy cases. Unlike the SDD volunteers, there was no bias related to the inclusion of autopsy cases. Therefore, by analysing the data of both autopsy cases and SDD subjects, it may be possible to evaluate the oral condition more realistically. This could contribute to the realisation of improved health and quality of life.