This paper addresses how over the past three decades, Japan has been carrying out a nationwide campaign aimed at helping people retain more teeth into their later years. More specifically, the goal of the campaign is to ensure that people still have 20 of their original adult teeth when they reach the age of 80. Over the course of the campaign, the percentage of people achieving that “8020” goal has grown fivefold, from around 10 percent to around 50 percent.
