CDIMIntroduction
Many people may have an image of “dental clinic = place to shave cavities”. In fact, dental clinics are about to change dramatically from that image.
In recent years, various studies have reported the relationship between oral health and systemic diseases, and items related to medical-dental collaboration and dental prevention were included in the 2019 "Boneta Policy." In response to this, in recent years medical fees have expanded the evaluation of cooperation between medical and dental departments in the perioperative period and home care, and new evaluations have been established for preventive treatment. There is a growing recognition that dentistry is very important in medical disease management. Against this background, we are once again paying attention to the dental field.
Dentistry has a different environment than medical, such as the scope of free medical treatment is large. In addition, against the background of the aging population, etc., the situation in the dental field itself is changing, such as treatment contents and surrounding issues. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain the latest and deeper information by accurately grasping the situation in the dental field.
Therefore, as part of our market research, we interviewed Mr. Masahiro Akashi, president of WHITE CROSS, who is familiar with the situation of the dental industry in Japan and overseas, about the current situation of the dental industry, the future, and the situation in Japan and overseas. In the future, the contents will be serialized in four parts.
- Changes in the field of dentistry in the next 10 to 20 years
- Particularly important technologies (systems, equipment, materials, etc.)
- Environment Surrounding the Dental Industry
- Current Trends in Advanced Dental Countries Overseas, Differences from Japan
WHITE CROSS Co., Ltd. President Masahiro Akashi Biography
2008, Tohoku University School of Dentistry / 2015, UCLA Anderson School of Management. After engaging in business improvement as a small and medium enterprise diagnostician while engaging in medical treatment at a dental therapist, studied MBA at UCLA. In 2015, co-founded WHITE CROSS Co., Ltd. Tohoku University School of Dentistry / Osaka Dental University Graduate School / Matsumoto Dental University / Nihon University Matsudo School of Dentistry Part-time lecturer. Invited Lecturer in Medical Management at Kanagawa Dental University. Member of the Tokyo Dentist Federation
Reference:Information site for dentists “WHITE CROSS”
(1) Changes in the field of dentistry over the next 10 to 20 years
Q.First of all, could you tell us about the trends and changes in the current dental field that should be noted?
First, I would like to talk about the domestic situation. In terms of trends in the field and background overview, the 8020 movement started in the 1990s under the initiative of the Dental Association, and over the past 30 years, more than 50% of elderly people in their 80s (in terms of achievement rate) have had teeth. remains. On the other hand, it can be said that the social structure has become such that periodontal disease is widespread among the elderly. Although it will continue, I think it is correct to recognize that the axis of what the country must respond to is gradually shifting.
While periodontal disease (in geriatric dentistry) has become a major problem, in terms of trends in society as a whole, dentists have traditionally focused on “shaving and filling” dentistry in a closed-office setting. In addition to medical care, it is now required to play a role in community comprehensive care. In dentistry (or hospital dentistry), where multidisciplinary collaboration can be performed at home, etc., there is a growing demand for perioperative medical management, oral care, and subsequent recovery of masticatory and swallowing functions.
In terms of "how far should we aim in the next 10 years?" While there is dentistry, there is a movement to double it from 30% by 2035. Broadly speaking, this means that there must be a functional differentiation among dentists. For example, in otolaryngology and neurosurgery, the same doctor does completely different things, so in dentistry, there is a possibility that the functions of dentists who deal with the elderly and those who deal with conventional dental treatment will be divided. I think that is high.
–Trends in Dental Institutions–
Among them, in terms of a large field, dental clinics are becoming medium-sized. There is a trend to break away from the one country, one castle model and form a clinic that secures a certain amount of human resources that can cooperate with institutions such as medical departments, home care, and nursing care in the region, and is evaluated by medical fees. has been promoted. For this reason, there is an image that a model of dental clinics in which medicine and dentistry are interrelated, and where dental clinics are responsible for fields such as prevention, is gradually being created nationwide.
In addition, especially in Tokyo, it has become impossible to provide medical care without home care. In the beginning, the main form of conventional dental treatment was to go around and give a little treatment, but as a recent trend, depending on the region, eating, swallowing, and rehabilitation are performed so that it can be eaten. There is a growing demand for a role that shifts to a response such as providing dental care, and there are now dental clinics specializing in home visits that include new roles in addition to conventional home visit dental treatment. This is likely to compete with otolaryngology, but team medical care is essential here. For example, only dentists may miss serious diseases such as esophageal cancer in functional therapy for eating. Minor surgical operations on the pharynx and larynx cannot be performed even if necessary. On the other hand, only otolaryngology departments that can deal with this do not have enough human resources to respond to the needs of home eating therapy throughout Japan, and it is not possible to restore masticatory function. In this area, it is necessary to complement each other through constructive medical-dental collaboration.
On the other hand, for outpatients, there has been a tendency for outpatient visits to drop sharply after reaching a certain age, but this does not mean that the need for dental care for elderly people who no longer visit hospitals has disappeared. The current situation is that people are simply not able to go to the dentist due to other diseases and being bedridden. In the era of comprehensive community care, it is required that the unmet needs will be covered by home and hospital dentistry. Going back to the topic of outpatient care, the need for outpatient care will not disappear all at once. In a situation where the number of elderly people is increasing slightly as a demographic trend, there is naturally an accumulation of past experiences in the mouths of the elderly, and there is still a need for dental treatment.
Overall, although the overall population is declining, the need for geriatric dentistry is increasing, and the need for outpatient treatment is not declining strongly. While the core values of dental treatment that have been handed down over the decades have not changed significantly, we believe that the current trend in a broad sense is that we must respond to other needs. You can
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* At CDI Medical, we would like to continue to pay attention to this "dental related" as a consulting theme in the medical and healthcare fields. If you would like to exchange information, please do so.
Author: Kohei Yamashita
Kohei Yamashita (Consultant, CDI Medical Co., Ltd.)
Graduated from the School of Human Sciences, Waseda University, and completed the master's course at the Graduate School of Human Sciences, Waseda University.
After working for a medical device manufacturer, a consulting company for medical institutions, and a medical venture company, he has reached the present.