E ffect of professional tongue cleaning on oral conditions of healthy adults.

在岩手县进行了问卷调查，并在东京、北京和上海进行了网络调查以进行国际比较，以了解舌头清洁习惯的流行情况。结果表明，不同地区和不同国家患病率存在差异(中国人吸烟率较高)。由于医疗/牙科专业人员提供的信息或建议可能有助于人们养成清洁舌头的习惯，因此需要研究证据来支持他们的建议。通过测量牙周健康成年人口腔空气中挥发性硫化物的含量来预测牙周病原菌(特别是牙龈卟啉单胞菌)在牙菌斑中的定植是可能的。为了探讨我们先前提出的专业舌洁治法的持续效果，我们进行了一项交叉研究。结果发现，即使在清洁3天后，专业清洁在去除舌苔方面仍优于自清洁。我们通过实时荧光定量聚合酶链式反应比较了牙菌斑和牙周健康成人舌苔中的核梭杆菌数量。结果表明，牙菌斑和舌苔中的核革兰氏菌数量呈正相关，提示牙菌斑和舌苔之间存在核革兰氏菌的循环。结果，与拔牙前(第1天)相比，在第3天，清洁舌头和不清洁舌头的牙菌斑样本中的平均细菌数量显著减少。10天后，进行舌头清洁的受试者与第1天相比差异更大，尽管没有显著差异。总之，清洁舌头可能会抑制斑块的形成，尽管目前的发现只显示出轻微的变化。

To clarify prevalence of tongue cleaning habit, questionnaire survey was performed in Iwate prefecture, and web surveys were conducted in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai for international comparison. As the results, differences in prevalence were existed by region in the prefecture as well as by country (Chinese had the habit more frequently). Since information or recommendation by medical/dental professionals may contribute to make tongue cleaning habit of common people, research evidence supporting their recommendation are required.It was possible to predict colonization of periodontopathic bacteri (especially, Porphyromonas gingivalis) in dental plaque of periodontally healthy adults by means of measurement of volatile sulfur compounds in their mouth air.To investigate the continuous effects of professional tongue cleaning we proposed previously, we conducted a crossover study. As the results, the advantages of professional cleaning on removal of tongue coating against the self-cleaning was observed even after 3 days from the cleanings.We compared the amount of Fusobacterium nucleatum in dental plaque with those of tongue coating from periodontally healthy adults by a real-time PCR. As the results, positive correlation was observed in the amount of F. nucleatum of dental plaque and tongue coating which suggested that there was a circulation of F. nucleatum between dental plaque and tongue coating.We examined bacteria levels in dental plaque and tongue coating before and after their removal by 16S rRNA based real-time PCR. As the results, the average numbers of bacteria in dental plaque samples with and without tongue cleaning were significantly lesser on day 3 as compared to those before removal (day 1). After 10 days, the difference as compared to day 1 was greater in case subjects performed tongue cleaning, though there was no significance. In conclusion, tongue cleaning may inhibit plaque formation, though the present findings showed only slight changes.