Care providers’ perceptions of the importance of oral care and its performance within everyday caregiving for nursing home residents with dementia

Abstract

Three main findings from the study are discussed: Unclear responsibilities of different staff members related to daily oral care for the nursing home patients; a lack of guidelines and routines for oral hygiene and a lack of guidelines for sharing information between the different professional groups.

Health care professionals’ perspectives on oral care for long‐term care residents: Nursing staff, speech–language pathologists and dental hygienists

“…Our study concurs with previous studies in showing that nursing staff perceive time constraints and challenging patient behaviours as barriers to oral care delivery 27 . However, the comment from a DoN that a barrier to oral care provision may not lie in its perceived (un)importance but rather in its relative invisibility provides important additional insight.…”

Prevalence of halitosis in elderly living in nursing homes

“…A possible explanation could be that subjects suffering from dementia may have difficulties to manage their oral hygiene measures due to reduced oral motoric functions resulting in retention of food remnants and a lower oral clearance. Moreover, it is often very difficult for caregivers to assist a demented person with oral hygiene measures (27). Interestingly, most subjects in the present study had low-to-moderate plaque and gingivitis scores.…”

Oral health status of older people living in care homes in Wales

“…8,12 Regional variations in oral and denture hygiene of care home residents found in this study suggest that it should be possible to raise standards of oral hygiene. Setting national standards of oral care and prevention in care homes, providing training for staff and monitoring the delivery of oral health care through a care homes inspection programme may improve oral care in care homes and reduce some of the inequalities reported in this study.…”