Despite integrated dental care, oral treatment need remains in virtually all dentate residents and more than half of edentulous residents.

The purpose of this study was to determine the dental treatment needs of the residents in nursing homes (NHs) where integrated dental care has been offered without financial barriers. The dental status and surgical, prosthetic, restorative, and periodontal treatment needs were determined for 432 residents (average age 78.8 years) in three Dutch NHs. Although the subjects had no complaints, 72% had dental treatment needs. It was determined that treatment was necessary for 64% of the edentulous subjects (N = 316), 100% of the partially dentate subjects (N = 76), and 87% of the fully dentate subjects (N = 40). We concluded that when residents can no longer carry out oral hygiene independently, it is very difficult for them to maintain a level of oral health where their dental treatment needs have been met, especially for dentate residents.

Laag 0-30 cm Gemiddeld gehalte aan org. stof (%) 6,85 (0,18) 6,43 (0,14)-0,42 (0,15) Voorraad org. stof (Mton) 569,75 (7,31) 533,41 (7,00)-36,33 (7,85) Laag 30-100 cm Gemiddeld gehalte aan org. stof (%) 7,82 (0,26) 5,11 (0,16)-2,71 (0,23)

With integrated care, 55.6% of the residents had no oral treatment need versus 13.1% for incidental care, more edentulous residents wore dentures, and residents had less soft tissue pathology.

We interviewed 36 primary care nurses in three Dutch nursing homes regarding the functional oral health and dental treatment needs of 331 care-dependent residents (average age 77.8 years). The nurses assessed the residents' oral health condition as good (8.3 on a scale of 0 to 10). Edentulous residents wearing dentures were considered to have better functional oral health than dentate residents wearing partial dentures and edentulous residents not wearing dentures. According to the nurses, only 9% of the residents required dental treatment. This finding is in contrast with an intraoral study of the same population, in which dentists determined that 73% of the residents needed dental treatment.