Dental checkup in the occupational setting and health education given by occupational health nurses

Our Health Insurance Society has recognized that although dental care expenditure accounts for the greatest part of total medical spending, only a small number of insured persons use our dental checkup services. Among work sites in our company, Site K (with about 3,000 employees) is of larger scale and is characterized by greater dental care costs and medical costs for hypertension and diabetes mellitus when compared with the other sites. Therefore, in a project carried out by the Health Insurance Society, dental checkups in the occupational setting were performed on all employees at Site K. Continued improvement in dental health behavior among employees was subsequently attained through the means of health educational seminars held by occupational health nurses at each workplace who visited the workplace at the site.