世論 What Japan Thinks

In a survey performed over a week at the end of May, infoPLANT looked at how the Japanese brush their teeth. They used their usual method, a self-selecting questionnaire presented through the DoCoMo iMode menu system. They got 6,585 valid responses to the survey, with 67.0% of the sample female.

The state of Japanese teeth are one of common stereotypes one hears of, and a topic that I have featured before, in a translation of a survey on this topic last year by MyVoice.

I’m surprised that about three in ten brush soon after getting up, when after breakfast would be better, I believe; and less women brush before going to bed rather than after breakfast, although perhaps if those brushing at bath time, which is traditionally just before bed time, is added in, we would see the last thing at night figure would be higher.

Q1: When do you brush your teeth? (Sample size=6,585, multiple answer)

	Total	Male N=2,170	Female N=4,415
After waking up	31.4%	37.7%	28.3%
After breakfast	62.7%	48.5%	69.7%
After lunch	29.9%	14.7%	37.4%
After snacks	3.8%	2.5%	4.4%
After evening meal	18.3%	16.9%	19.0%
At bath time	24.9%	21.2%	26.7%
Before going to bed	59.3%	54.2%	61.7%
Other	6.3%	5.0%	7.0%
Don’t brush teeth	0.2%	0.6%	0.0%

Looking at the age breakdown, over half the men over fifty brush first thing in the morning, making it the most popular time for that age group. Perhaps this reflects poor oral health, resulting in waking up with teeth that require urgent care? Overall, men were more likely to brush first thing than women; I wonder if men skipping breakfast, or eating breakfast outside is a factor here?

Q1A: How many times a day do you brush your teeth? (Sample size=6,572)

	Total	Male N=2,158	Female N=4,414
Once	16.3%	28.2%	10.4%
Twice	45.1%	50.2%	42.7%
Thrice	28.1%	15.5%	34.3%
Four times	7.3%	4.4%	8.8%
Five times	2.2%	1.1%	2.8%
Six times	0.7%	0.4%	0.9%
Seven times	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%
Eight times	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%
Average	2.4 times	2.0 times	2.5 times

Q2: Apart from price, what are the important points when buying toothpaste? (Sample size=6,572, up to three answers)

	Total	Male N=2,158	Female N=4,414
Decay prevention effectiveness	54.2%	52.6%	55.0%
Gingivitis, periodontitis prevention effectiveness	48.6%	56.9%	44.5%
Whitening effectiveness	47.0%	35.4%	52.6%
Bad breath prevention effectiveness	42.4%	44.9%	41.3%
Taste	22.7%	11.9%	27.9%
Maker or brand	21.5%	20.6%	22.0%
Packaging design	3.9%	3.7%	4.0%
Other	7.4%	8.2%	7.1%
Don’t use toothpaste	0.8%	1.0%	0.7%

Looking at the age breakdown, decay prevention was slightly more important for the younger people, but gum disease prevention was significantly more important for older peope; comparing the teenagers with the over fifties, for men, gum disease was about half as important again, for women it was nearly triple! Breath freshness was most important for teenage men and over fifty people of both sexes. Whitening, as one would expect, was important to nearly two-thirds of teenage girls, but less than a third of the over-fifty women.

Q3: Apart from a toothbrush and toothpaste, what other dental care products do you usually use? (Sample size=6,572, multiple answer)

	Total	Male N=2,158	Female N=4,414
Xylitol chewing gum	49.1%	44.0%	51.6%
Dental floss	29.2%	20.4%	33.5%
Dental rinse or mouthwash	26.7%	21.5%	29.3%
Interdental brush	17.3%	15.6%	18.2%
Electric toothbrush	15.5%	19.0%	13.8%
Tongue scraper	7.4%	6.1%	8.1%
Other	3.5%	3.4%	3.6%
Don’t use any other products	18.4%	22.6%	16.4%

Looking at the age and sex details, electric and interdental brushes get more popular as age increases; under 10% of teenagers use either. Flossing also increases with age, but not so significantly. Usage of mouthwash increases with age amongst women, but the similar trend is not seen amongst the men in this sample. Xylitol gum is most popular with teenage boys, although one must wonder whether they actually are chewing it for functional reasons. Next is teenage girls, followed by over-fifty women.