Background: Health disparities according to marital status have been reported worldwide. Although spouses provide an important social network that influences heath behaviors, limited studies have examined the association between marital status and access to dental care. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the association between marital status and access to dental care. Methods: A secondary analysis of the 2013 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan which is a national survey, was performed in this study. Out of 367,766 respondents, 4111 respondents, aged over 40 years who selected oral symptoms as their most concerning subjective symptom were recruited as participants. The independent variable of interest was marital status—married or non-married (single, divorced, widowed); and the dependent variable was access to dental care. We performed Poisson regression analyses stratified by sex with adjustment for age, educational status, employment, equivalent household expenditure, and smoking habits. Results: Among respondents who reported oral symptoms, 3024 were married, and 1087 were non-married. Further, 29.4% and 40.4% of married and non-married men, respectively, did not receive dental treatment for their symptoms. Meanwhile, 27.5% and 25.0% of married and non-married women, respectively, did not receive dental treatment for their symptoms. The prevalence ratio for not receiving dental treatment was significantly higher among non-married men (prevalence ratio: 1.33; 95% confidence interval: 1.14–1.56) than among married men. However, no significant association was observed among women. Conclusions: Non-married men were highly unlikely to receive dental treatment than married men, while no significant association was observed among women. The results implicate the importance of implementing a public dental health policy for protecting the dental health of non-married individuals.

Background: This study aimed to provide a stratified description of dental visit utilisation by Japanese residents based on patient age, sex, prefecture, and the purpose of the visits. Methods: This cross-sectional study used the National Database of Health Insurance Claims of Japan to identify participants visiting dental clinics in Japan (April 2018–March 2019). Dental care utilisation by populations stratified by age, sex, and prefecture was assessed. We estimated the slope index of inequality (SII) and relative index of inequality (RII) to evaluate regional differences based on regional income and education. Results: Amongst the Japanese population, 18.6% utilised preventive dental care visits; 59,709,084 participants visited dental clinics, with children aged 5 to 9 years having the highest proportion. SII and RII were higher for preventive dental visits than those for treatments in all settings. The largest regional differences for preventive care were observed in SII of children aged 5 to 9 years and in RII of men in their 30s and women aged 80 years and older. Conclusions: This nationwide population-based study revealed that the proportion of people utilising preventive dental care in Japan was low, with regional differences. Preventive care needs to be more easily accessible and available to improve the oral health of residents. The above findings may provide an important basis for improving policies related to dental care for residents.

The conformation of the L-iduronate residue in non-sulphated di-, tetra- and hexa-saccharides and their alditol derivatives derived from rooster comb dermatan sulphate was investigated by 400 MHz 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy. The ratio of conformational isomers is obtained by the average spin-spin coupling constants of a mixture of nearly isoenergetic conformers (1C4, 4C1 and 2S0). The non-reducing terminal L-iduronate residue in the tetrasaccharides (I-H-I-H and I-H-G-H) and their alditols (I-H-I-H-ol and I-H-G-H-ol) is in equilibrium with three conformers (1C4, 30%; 4C1, 40%; 2S0, 30%) of nearly equal population. Whereas the internal L-iduronate residue in the tetrasaccharides (I-H-I-H and G-H-I-H) exists as an equilibrium mixture of 1C4 (54%) and 2S0 (42-44%) conformers, that of their alditols (I-H-I-H-ol and G-H-I-H-ol) is in equilibrium between 2S0 conformer (66%) and 1C4 conformer (28%). The conformational population for the internal L-iduronate residue 2I in the hexasaccharide (3I-H-2I-H-1I-H) is also calculated and compared with that for the L-iduronate residue in native dermatan sulphate, which was calculated on the basis of the spin-spin coupling constants reported by Gatti, Casu, Torri & Vercellotti [(1979) Carbohydr. Res. 68, c3-c7].

Dental care for hospitalized patients can improve nutritional status and feeding function while reducing complications. However, such care in Japan is not uniformly provided. This investigation examined the presence and characteristics of hospitals where dentists work and the collaboration between medical and dental teams. This cross-sectional study involves 7205 hospitals using the administrative reports on the Hospital Bed Function of 2018. Indicators described were the proportion of hospitals employing dentists, those providing perioperative oral care, and those with a nutrition support team (NST) that included dentists. A two-level logistic regression model was performed using hospital-based and secondary medical area-based factors to identify factors associated with hospitals employing dentists and dental care services. Some hospitals had poor medical and dental collaboration, even those with dentists, and no-dentist hospitals had rare medical and dental collaboration. Factors positively associated with hospitals that employed dentists were diagnosis-procedure-combination-hospital types, the Japanese government-established hospitals compared with hospitals established by public organizations, among others. In conclusion, the present study found poor medical and dental collaboration was observed in some hospitals and that hospital type, region, and hospital founders were associated with the performance of collaborative medical and dental care.

Few studies have examined the factors related to dental clinics during dental check-ups. We examined the association between dental-hygienist-related factors and patients’ regular dental check-ups. This nationwide cross-sectional study was based on a survey conducted in Japan in 2014. The analyzed population included 12,139 patients from 1181 dental clinics. We used three-level Poisson regression analysis, considering patient‒clinic‒prefecture, to examine the association of dental-hygienist-related factors with dental check-up behavior. Patients attending treatment and regular check-ups constituted 63.0% and 37.0%, respectively. The adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) for patients undergoing regular dental check-ups at dental clinics with dedicated dental hygienists’ units, spending ≥20 min in patient education (compared to 0 min), and with three or more dental hygienists (compared to 0 hygienists) available were 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–1.30), 1.25 (95%CI: 1.07–1.46), and 2.05 (95%CI: 1.64–2.56), respectively. The median PR indicates that when a patient randomly moves to another dental clinic with more regular dental check-ups, this prevalence increased 1.69 times. These results suggest that dental check-up behavior is determined not only by individual factors but also dental-clinic-level factors. Improving the dental-hygienist-related factors is necessary to encourage people to visit dentists for regular check-ups.

全身性エリテマトーデス(症例1),ウエゲナー肉芽腫症(症例2),顕微鏡的多発性血管炎(症例3)の自己免疫疾患3症例において,ステロイドパルス療法後,サイクロホスファマイド投与中に,発熱(症例1),発熱・肝障害(症例2),発熱・肝障害・肺炎(症例3),およびサイトメガロウイルスアンチゲネミアの陽性化を認め,サイトメガロウイルス感染症と診断した.抗ウイルス療法開始後,発熱・肝障害・肺炎などは改善した.このようにサイトメガロウイルスアンチゲネミア法は同感染症の早期診断に非常に有用である.