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Background: Globalization of the professions has become a necessity among schools and universities across the world. It has affected the medical and dental professions in terms of curriculum design and student and patient needs. In Japan, where medicine and dentistry are taught mainly in the Japanese language, profession-based courses in English, known as Medical English and Dental English, have been integrated into the existing curriculum among its 83 medical and 29 dental schools. Unfortunately, there is neither a core curriculum nor a model syllabus for these courses. Methods: This report is based on a survey, two discussion forums, a workshop, and finally, the drafting of a proposed core curriculum for dental English approved by consensus of the participants from each university. Results: The core curriculum covers the theoretical aspects, including dental English terms and oral pathologies; and practical aspects, including blended learning and dentist-patient communication. It is divided into modules and is recommended to be offered for at least two semesters. Conclusions: The core curriculum is expected to guide curriculum developers in schools where dental English courses are yet to be offered or are still in their early development. It may also serve as a model curriculum to medical and dental schools in countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Central and South America, where English is not the medium of instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dental schools in Japan are among many worldwide whose medium of instruction is not in English. With advances in science, technology, and communication, the demand for the globalization of professions increases. At present, dental schools in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe have started revising their dental curricula to either include English courses for dentistry or offer a full English dental curriculum. In Japan, dental English courses started to be introduced into curricula in the early 1990s. However, a survey conducted in 1999 found that English courses were not offered in Japan's twenty-nine dental schools and there was no consensus as to what such courses should include or when and how they should be taught. Ten years after that survey, the survey results reported in this article found that the problems reported in the 1999 survey still exist. Additionally, there are still differences among schools offering English courses in terms of the timing and contents of the courses. Since teachers and school officials will have an important role in curriculum development, this article recommends that a fact-finding meeting with educators, school, and education officials be initiated to discuss, develop, and implement a core curriculum for these dental English courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

doi: 10.1111/j.1741-2358.2011.00596.x Postural stability and occlusal status among Japanese elderly Background: There are still no data available on the relationship between postural stability and occlusal status among the elderly. Objectives: To examine relationships between postural stability and occlusal status through a cohort study among elderly Japanese. Method: Oral examination, occlusal status, postural stability and a questionnaire were conducted and given to 87 community-dwelling Japanese at enrolment. Results: The average occlusal pressure of the female group was statistically higher than the male group while average occlusal pressure and postural stability length were lesser in the group with more remaining teeth. Postural stability area and number of remaining teeth showed statistically significant correlations. Postural stability length was lesser in the group with strong occlusal force. Furthermore, the number of decayed teeth was fewer in the good hygiene group. Conclusions: This study identified a close relationship between occlusal status and postural stability of Japanese older individuals. Occlusal hypofunction was observed more in those with occlusal problems, and a decrease in their occlusal functions resulted in postural instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Education in Japan and other Asian countries advocates the stereotypical passive learning style where students are limited in their breadth of knowledge dismissing anything not imparted by their teachers. With globalized education, professions are becoming very competitive, embracing student-centeredness compelling them to introduce active learning activities. A study funded by Japan's Ministry of Education conducted a needs analysis, proposed a solution, and implemented an active learning approach. Since the latter is still new in the Japanese teaching-learning environment, this current study aimed at assessing the willingness of undergraduate students of dental medicine to participate in active learning activities rather than the typical passive-style teaching-learning educational process. Methods: Three active implementation-learning activities, namely International Group Discussions (IGD), Student-Teacher Experience (STE) and Role Play Activities (RPA) were included in the Dental English course in a classroom setting at a dental school in Japan. Students had to choose between participating in the activity or taking the final examination. Two hundred and three third-year undergraduate dental students participated over a 5-year period from October 2013 to March 2017. For IGD, the researchers assigned students to a topic and grouped them with visiting international exchange students. For STE, researchers gave students teacher-prepared presentation slides on basic dental topics, which they presented in front of their classmates. For RPA, students had to do prepared role-play and impromptu role play. Peer and teacher feedbacks of the activities were given to all students. At the end of the course, the students evaluated the active learning activities and wrote their comments in a free entry survey. Results: All 203 students participated in the active learning activities confirming the changing learning needs of Japanese students in this dental school. The most common comment was that the class was interesting, fun, an easy-to-understand way to learn dental terms, and a safe way to express themselves in the English language. Conclusion: The majority of Japanese students preferred the active learning style. The study revealed that students reported greater engagement and better learning with proper guidance and time to prepare for the activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to assess the presence of six common cariogenic bacteria from Cariostat-inoculated plaque samples of Japanese elementary school children through PCR analysis and check its associations with caries risk testing the validity of Cariostat as a caries risk assessment tool. This epidemiological school-based study investigated plaque samples of 399 Japanese elementary school children. Assessed using the Cariostat, 48.2% of the children had high caries risk. DNA detection of Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus, Streptococcus salivarius, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum and both S. mutans and S. sobrinus was seen in 65.2%, 24.1%, 69.7%, 17.5%, 7.8%, 19.3%, and 17.3% of the participants, respectively. Except for S. salivarius, the presence of all other investigated bacteria resulted in a statistically significant increase among the proportion of subjects with high caries risk. Caries risk assessed using Cariostat was significantly influenced by the presence of cariogenic bacteria. Being a selective medium for cariogenic bacteria, the Cariostat can be a useful and direct source of cariogenic bacterial DNA for PCR analysis while effectively assessing caries risk.