Implications of Japan's 8020 Campaign and the Current Status of Oral Health in the Elderly of Korea and Japan

As the first nation to experience a super-aging society, Japan’s response measures have various implications. To improve the oral health of the elderly, the Japanese central government, local governments, and the dental community collaborated in 1989 to launch the 8020 Campaign, aiming for individuals to maintain 20 teeth at 80. This campaign has yielded significant improvements in the oral health of the elderly. Initially, at the beginning of the 8020 campaign, only 7% of those aged 80 had 20 or more teeth, with an average of 4–5 teeth. By 2011, 22 years after its inception, the achievement rate increased significantly to 38.3% and reached 51.6% in 2016, exceeding the initial target of 50%. The fact that the 8020 campaign achievers improved their oral health and improved various systemic health indicators, including reductions in total mortality and noninfectious diseases, has been supported by various research findings. As a first step in applying Japan’s 8020 Campaign experience to Korea, we compared the rate of possessing 20 or more present teeth and the average number of present teeth among elderly individuals aged 75–79. In 2000, 30.4% of the Korean elderly individuals had 13.1 teeth on average, while for the Japanese elderly individuals (1999 data), it was 17.5% with an average of 9.0. However, this trend was reversed by 2011, with elderly Japanese surpassing Koreans in rate of retaining 20 or more teeth average number of teeth present. The most recent survey in 2022 showed that Japanese elderly individuals lead with a 55.8% rate of retaining 20 or more teeth and an average of 18.1 teeth, compared with Korean elderly individuals (2019 data) at 53.9% possession and 17.3 teeth on average, respectively. Based on Japan’s successful experience, Korea must collaborate with the central government and dental community to establish ambitious and concrete oral health goals and to sustain efforts to achieve them. This study provides policy insights into promoting oral health among older adults by analyzing and comparing the oral health status of older adults in Korea and Japan through Japan’s 8020 campaign.