To improve oral care, there are opportunities to work with existing structures and clarify responsibilities and key processes. Oral care should be included in nursing work as a more highly prioritized task, and nurses' knowledge needs to be enhanced. A network of activities at all levels is needed to implement oral care in nursing care.

The oral healthcare situation for elderly people today is so complex that theoretical education at the group level regarding different aspects of oral health is not sufficient. Individual hands-on guidance by dental hygienists on a regular basis in everyday care may be a new approach.