What is a denture bank? Preparing for Disasters by Depositing Denture Data Free of Charge Denture Banks Spreading Nationwide, Listed in "National Land Stabilization: A Collection of Private Sector Initiatives

The Cabinet Secretariat is promoting "National Land Toughening" with the aim of building a country and regions that are resilient to natural disasters. (Head office: Sapporo, Hokkaido; Representative Director: Akira Ikeda), which operates a dental laboratory, has been featured in the 2024 edition of "National Land Resilience: A Collection of Private Sector Initiatives".

Cover of "National Land Sturdiness: A Collection of Private Sector Initiatives

Denture Bank" is listed in the 2024 edition of "Private Sector Initiatives for Strengthening the National Land Structure" (Japanese only).

https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/kokudo_kyoujinka/r6_minkan/pdf/017.pdf

Japan is a disaster-prone country, and the challenge is to build a country that is resilient to disasters.

Three months have passed since the Noto Peninsula earthquake occurred on New Year's Day, 2024. Although recovery efforts are continuing, it is expected that it will take more time to fully recover from the disaster due to the extensive damage. With large-scale disasters occurring in various parts of the country every year, the Cabinet Secretariat is also promoting "national land resilience. This is an initiative aimed at building a country and regions that are resilient to natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and typhoons. The idea is to build a flexible recovery system for disaster prevention, disaster mitigation, and reconstruction, and municipalities are becoming increasingly active in this effort.

Denture banks spreading across the country, preparing for disasters by diversifying risks.

The "Denture Bank," a service that stores 3D denture data free of charge in preparation for disasters. The "Dentures Bank" service, which stores 3D data of dentures free of charge in preparation for disasters, was included in the 2024 edition of the "Collection of Private Sector Initiatives for Strengthening the National Land Structure" published by the Cabinet Secretariat as an effective initiative for strengthening national land resilience. This is a compilation of leading private-sector initiatives that can be used as a reference for promoting national land resilience in terms of their exemplary, unique, and voluntary nature. The Dentures Bank was featured as an initiative to "relocate and disperse to safe areas.

The Denture Bank is a service that stores 3D data of denture shapes on three servers in the U.S. at the same time, instead of in Japan, which is prone to large-scale disasters, so that the data can be used immediately when needed. The data is scanned and converted to data using a 3D scanner at the nearest member dentist's office. Since the dentures are returned in about 30 minutes, the service is well received by users for its ease of use. Dentures made outside of a member dental clinic are also eligible for this service.

Normally, it takes two to three months of hospital visits to make dentures, but with the Denture Bank, if you have an emergency, you can call and the dentures can be completed in as little as two days, with no need to visit the office. The denture bank is expanding nationwide, and even if your family dentist is affected by a disaster, you can receive your dentures at a member dentist's office in another prefecture. 26 denture banks across the country have joined in the first year since the nationwide launch in February 2023.

We want to protect the lives and health of as many people as possible.

The trigger was the Great East Japan Earthquake. At the time, one in five denture users lost their dentures. It took several months to get new dentures because the local dental clinic was also affected by the disaster and lost medical records. In the meantime, the oral environment deteriorated, and many elderly people lost their lives due to aspiration pneumonia. We recommended that temporary dentures made during treatment be kept as a backup as a way to provide new dentures as soon as possible. Since then, digital fabrication has become possible, and free data storage began in January 2021. Furthermore, since a disaster could occur anywhere at any time, we thought it necessary to expand the network nationwide, and began nationwide expansion in February 2023 by recruiting member dental clinics.

Representative's voice: "We devised the name so that many people can easily use the system in preparation for disasters. Most of the users are elderly people who are not familiar with digitization, so we chose the familiar name 'bank. Also, many other dental offices charge for data acquisition and storage, but we decided to make it free for easy use. Currently, denture fabrication using the deposited 3D data is not covered by insurance, and users must pay 26,400 yen for the fabrication of new dentures. I believe that more lives and health can be saved if insurance coverage is made available as a special measure in the event of a large-scale disaster in the future."

The number of inquiries from dental clinics wishing to become a member has been increasing, and procedures are being carried out in order to expand the number of locations to approximately 30 nationwide by the summer of 2024.

Denture Bank = https://irebabank.com/

Outline of the Denture Bank Service

Description: Cleaning and sterilization of existing dentures, and reading of data using a 3D scanner,

　　　　　　　Cloud storage of data

Fee: Free (scanning of denture shape data, cloud storage, and data withdrawal)

Inquiries: 011-596-6685 (weekdays from 9:00 to 18:00)

Acceptance method: In person, shipping service available depending on the dental clinic

Partner dental clinics: 26 branches (Hokkaido, Akita, Fukushima, Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Chiba,

　　　　　　　Fukui, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Okayama, Tokushima, Kagawa, Fukuoka, Nagasaki,

　　　　　　　Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Okinawa)

Company Profile

Representative Director: Akira Ikeda

Business : Denture banking, denture manufacturing, denture cleaning, antibacterial treatment

Location: Minami 2-jo, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0062

　　　　　　　 5F Tomii Building No.37, 3-12-2, Minami 2-jo Nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

Telephone number: 011-596-8814 (Office hours: 9:00-18:00 weekdays)

Business hours : Weekdays 9:00-18:00 (Closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays)

URL : https://omamoriireba.com/