－Seeking innovative dental health care development－

Anti-aging medicine is defined as the medicine which makes maintaining health and youth possible while growing older. The aim of this innovative medicine is not simply to extend the life span, but to prevent age-associated physical and mental decline and maintain a high quality of life thus enabling continued social productivity. Instruction on health enhancement and therapy based on anti-aging health care, namely anti-aging medicine, is a new preventive method and a concrete effort to achieve the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s goal of its “Healthy Japan 21” campaign to promote better health in the 21st century. It is also hoped that evidence-based anti-aging dental medicine will be implemented in the dental medicine field.

Meanwhile, due to the falling birthrate and aging of the population, in the year 2050 almost 40% of Japan’s population will be over the age of 65 years. In addition, because of the decline in the incidence of dental caries and periodontal disease, the time for a transformation in conventional dental medicine is imminent. Due to this current situation, the Society of Anti-Aging Dental Medicine (AAD) is actively involved in introducing anti-aging dental medicine to the dentistry field in order to create a framework for innovative dental health care.