Oral health status, dental treatment needs, and barriers to dental care of elderly care home residents in Lodz, Poland

Abstract

ObjectivesTo determine oral health status, dental treatment needs, and to identify barriers that prevent easy access to dental care by elderly care home residents in Lodz.BackgroundStudies in many countries show that oral health status of elderly care home residents is poor and there is an urgent need to improve it.MethodsThe study included 259 care home residents, aged 65 years and older. The oral examination was performed. In face-to-face interviews, subjects were asked about frequency of cleaning teeth and/or dentures, whether they needed assistance, and whether the assistance was available; they were also asked about the perceived dental needs, and about the time since their last visit to a dentist and the purpose of the visit. If they had not visited the dentist in the past 12 months, they were asked about reasons for failing to visit the dentist.ResultsForty-six percent of the subjects were edentulous. Only 5.8% of all participants had a sufficient number of functional natural teeth. Dental treatment was found to be necessary in 59.8% of the respondents. One in four subjects reported reduced ability of correctly cleaning teeth and dentures themselves, of whom only one-third were helped by others. An insufficient level of hygiene was found in every other subject. About 42% of residents had not visited a dentist for over 5 years, mainly due to organizational reasons.ConclusionExpanding the current scope of medical care for the elderly care home residents to include dental care would improve their currently poor oral health status.

Salivary Flow Rate, Oral Yeast Colonization and Dental Status in Institutionalized and Non-Institutionalized Elderly

“…Th ese results are consistent with the results of an investigation conducted among nursinghome residents in Holland, which found low salivary fl ow rates in 72% of the institutionalized elderly 26 . Salivary gland hypofunction may be correlated with various systemic disorders, medications, as well as the number of medications 3,11,27,28 . Th e higher incidence of decreased salivary fl ow rate which we found in the group of institutionalized elderly could be the result of a rather high number of diff erent medications or intake of medications with specifi c xerostomic side effects 27,28 .…”

“…Some are unable to live independently as a result of their age and/or disease, and require institutionalization in long-term care facilities 1,2 . Multiple systemic diseases and their treatments can impair oral health and, consequently, the quality of life of an elderly person [3][4][5] . Th e most common oral diseases among the elderly are dental caries, tooth loss, gingivitis, periodontitis, decreased salivary fl ow, candidiasis, and oral cancer 2,6 .…”

“…However, unstimulated salivary fl ow rate decreases with an increase in the number of medications, in particular following the intake of antihypertensive agents, tranquillizers, sedatives, hypnotics or antipsychotic agents 11,12 . Most of the elderly take at least one medication that adversely aff ects salivary gland secretion and many of these medications reduce salivary fl ow rate 3,13,14 . Reduced salivary fl ow rate or hyposalivation is connected with an increased number of microorganisms in the oral cavity resulting in an increased risk of fungal infections and dental caries.…”

Temporomandibular disorders in elderly individuals: the influence of institutionalization and sociodemographic factors

“…Healthcare professionals need to understand how these changes lead to TMD, and how they affect pre-existing conditions (5) . It is important to bear in mind that the elderly may have complications of disease processes accumulated over their lifetime, which could lead to an increased prevalence of TMD in this age group (6,7) . Studies have shown that changes in systemic conditions may vary among the institutionalized and non-institutionalized elderly population (7)(8)(9) .…”

Strategies for Oral Health Management in Patients with Acute Confusional State

“…The principal of palliative care must be applied on both patients to maintain their general health and prevent the systemic condition getting worsen. 13 The invasive procedures for patients can be taken if the patient's condition improved. In Case 1 must enclose the recommendation from internist and laboratory results of the level of PT, APTT, complete blood count, and blood sugar.…”