The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of healthy elderly individuals undergoing regular dental checkups and identify any environmental or associated oral factors. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was used to interview 216 individuals attending 2 welfare facilities for the elderly, of whom 160 were included in the final analysis. Items comprised age, sex, number of residual teeth, frequency of teeth/ denture cleaning, subjective chewing ability, denture use, oral status, regular dental checkups , visitation of the same dentist, number of dental visits in the past year, General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) (Japanese version) score, living situation, and use of routine medication. Individuals undergoing regular dental checkups were defined as those with a primary dentist whom they saw for dental checkups at least once a year. The rate of individuals undergoing regular dental checkups was 75.0% in men aged 60-74 years, 58.8% in women aged 60-74 years, 70.0% in men aged 75 years or over, and 45.3% in women aged 75 years or over. Logistic regression analysis revealed a higher number of residual teeth (odds ratio [OR]=2.664 in comparison with those with fewer than 20 teeth, p=0.0427); cleaning teeth/dentures 3 or more times per day (OR=2.546 in comparison with cleaning them twice per day or less, p=0.0157); and a higher GOHAI score (OR=2.742 in comparison with those with a GOHAI score of less than 58, p=0.0263) as factors significantly correlated with undergoing regular dental checkups. In conclusion, the results revealed that individuals undergoing regular dental checkups had 20 or more residual teeth, cleaned their teeth/denture 3 or more times per day, and had a higher GOHAI score. This indicates that the best predictive factor for undergoing regular dental checkups in healthy elderly individuals is their GOHAI score.

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Background Muscle weakness negatively affects perioral muscles and quality of life. The button‐pull exercise is used to teach lip closure (LC) and to strengthen muscles. However, how the muscles accomplish LC during button‐pull and its training effect on each muscle are unknown. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the LC mechanism and the efficacy of perioral muscle training. Methods Electromyographic (EMG) activities were obtained from perioral muscles along with the lip closing force (LCF) and were normalised to the maximum LC activities. Correlations between muscle activities and LCF were assessed during LCF increment/decrement task. The effectiveness of training methods was evaluated during functional face tasks (FFT). The effects of button‐pull on muscles were evaluated during static loadings with two sized buttons. Results The muscles were active during LC, and the amplitudes changed with the LCF. In FFT, the muscles were simultaneously active and the total activity was highest during the blowing task. In button‐pull, maximum button‐pulling forces (BPFs) were significantly larger with the large button (p = .0001). In the static loading task, muscle activities increased with increasing button load. However, the small button produced significantly greater EMG activity than the large button in most of the load (p < .005). Conclusion LC is accomplished by the cooperation of perioral muscles. In button‐pull, a larger button requires a larger BPF, but a smaller button shows higher muscle activities. Face expression exercises compare favourably with button‐pull. Forceful LC and blowing tasks may be effective and balanced training of the perioral muscles.

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