Dentists in Japan are examining the teeth of thousands of bodies found following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in an effort to help identity them, according to a story in the Mainichi Daily News.
Dr. Masaru Suzuki, head of the Kamaishi dental association, said that the effort has been challenging because so many medical records were lost in the tsunami. Of the 27 private dentists in the local dentists association, facilities run by 16 of them were destroyed and one dentist died, the Daily News reported.
Working in a junior high school in Kamaishi, Dr. Suzuki has examined the mouths of hundreds of victims, recording details about restorations, missing teeth, and artificial teeth. The results have been submitted to the Iwate Prefectural Police, he told the Daily News.
Since the day after the disaster, the Japan Dental Association has been busy dispatching dentist teams to the devastated areas to identify victims of the disaster; surveying the status of dental offices, hospitals, and related oral health facilities; sending dental care providers to shelters to provide oral care; and organizing shipments of oral care products, hand instruments, devices, and materials to the Iwate Dental Association, Miyagi Dental Association, and Fukushima Dental Association, the ADA News reported.
These efforts have been coordinated by Dr. Jiro Masuda, an advisor to the Osaka Dental University and an ADA affiliate member, according to the ADA News. The number of dentists and dental offices that could be affected by the earthquake and tsunami in the three worst hit prefectures are 1,026 dentists and 611 dental offices in Iwate, 1,745 dentists and 1,050 dental offices in Miyagi, and 1,423 dentists and 913 dental offices in Fukushima, Dr. Masuda said.
