Dental sheets for oral care without water during disasters

Dental Salon Japan Co. Ltd. in Oita Prefecture has begun selling general-purpose dental sheets that can be used without water during disasters from 1 March. They have also started holding seminars to raise awareness of the importance of oral care in day care facilities and other locations.

In the event of a large-scale disaster, if evacuees are forced to live in shelters for an extended period without water, the lack of oral care can lead to an increase in pneumonia among elderly individuals. This type of pneumonia is believed to be caused by aspiration of bacteria in the mouth, known as “aspiration pneumonia”. To address this issue, Dental Salon Japan, which deals with dental medical products, has developed and commercialized dental sheets that can be used for oral care without water during disasters.

Features of the dental sheets include the ability to easily clean teeth by fitting them onto the finger, not requiring gargling, being a dry sheet that can be stored permanently without the use of water, having FDA approval, and being safe for use on pets.

The dental sheets have already been adopted as a disaster preparedness item in Oita City, Taketa City, and Yufu City in Oita Prefecture, where Dental Salon Japan is located. With this release, individuals can now purchase the dental sheets for personal use.

More about disaster preparedness in Japan