Guang Hong, DDS, PhD,a Ying-Ai Li, DDS, PhD,b Yun-Min Lian, DDS,c Shinsuke Sadamori, DDS, PhD,b Taizo Hamada, DDS, PhD,a and Hiroshi Murata, DDS, PhDd
aDepartment of Oral Health Care Promotion, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, bDepartment of Prosthetic Dentistry, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan, cDepartment of Prosthetic Dentistry, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, P. R. China, and dDepartment of Prosthetic Dentistry, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate knowledge about denture cleansers of dentists in Japan, China, and Indonesia.
Materials and Methods: Forty-three dentists from Japan (Hiroshima University), 26 dentists from China (Hebei Medical University and Wuhan University) and 62 dentists from Indonesia (Airlangga University) were surveyed by questionnaire about their knowledge and understanding of denture cleansers in this study.
Results: : The response rate was 91.6%. Significant differences among the three countries were found for ten questions. For the question “Have you heard of denture cleansers?”, 100% of Japanese dentists answered “Yes”, whereas 19.2% of Chinese dentists and 14.5% of Indonesian dentists answered “No”. For the question “Have you ever seen denture cleansers in the clinic?”, more than 90% of subjects in Japan answered with “often” or “occasionally”, whereas 69.2% of Chinese dentists and 54.1% of Indonesian dentists answered “No”. For the question “Do you think the use of denture cleanser is more effective than a clinical intervention?”, over 90% of the subjects in Japan answered “Yes”; however, over 55% of subjects in China and over 65% of Indonesian subjects answered “No”.
Conclusion: The results suggest that dental professionals in China and Indonesia have little knowledge about denture cleansers. The study confirms that there is a difference in the interest and knowledge about denture cleansers among the three countries of Japan, China, and Indonesia.(Int Chin J Dent 2010; 10: 29-34.)
Key Words: China, dentist, denture cleanser, Indonesia, Japan, questionnaire