Oral health in institutionalised elderly people in Oslo, Norway and its relationship with dependence and cognitive impairment

Abstract

Oral health in institutionalised elderly people in Oslo, Norway and its relationship with dependence and cognitive impairment Objective: Investigating oral health's relationship with dependency and cognitive state. Background: Oral hygiene is poor in the institutionalised elderly. There are problems regarding the oral care of residents having poor mobility or cognitive impairment. Material and methods: Cross-sectional study involving 135 participants (mean age 85.7, SD 8.8 years) in two categories: nurses doing tooth cleaning and residents doing tooth cleaning. Those cleaned by nurses were categorised as co-operative or unco-operative. The oral hygiene status, presence of caries, retained roots and denture-related stomatitis were recorded. Results: Of the participants, 70% had only natural teeth. The prevalence of caries was 28%. A significant correlation showed that having more teeth gave a poorer Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) (p = 0.018). The number of retained roots increased with the severity of cognitive impairment (p < 0.05). Significant differences were found between nurses or residents doing the tooth cleaning on the OHI-S (p = 0.05) and percentage of dental plaque (p = 0.003). Unco-operative residents had poorer oral hygiene (p = 0.028), more caries (p = 0.008) and were more often moderate-severe cognitive impaired (p = 0.016). Conclusions: A high percentage of participants had unacceptable oral hygiene. Residents whose teeth were cleaned by the nurses had poorer oral hygiene. Unco-operative residents had the worst oral hygiene and more caries.

Comportamentos e auto-perceção em saúde oral de uma população geriátrica da região do Porto, Portugal

“…Zuluaga et al, num estudo realizado em idosos institucionalizados, verificaram que os idosos ao terem as suas capacidades físicas e mentais diminuídas perdem muitas vezes destreza manual, o que cria dificuldades na realização da higiene tanto geral como oral 19 . Estes autores afirmaram ainda que a precariedade da higiene oral observada poderia dever-se à falta de cuidados de higiene, à baixa prioridade que a saúde oral ocupa, à falta de protocolos de higiene e ainda ao baixo conhecimento em saúde oral dos prestadores de cuidados 17,19 .…”

“…Zuluaga et al, num estudo realizado em idosos institucionalizados, verificaram que os idosos ao terem as suas capacidades físicas e mentais diminuídas perdem muitas vezes destreza manual, o que cria dificuldades na realização da higiene tanto geral como oral 19 . Estes autores afirmaram ainda que a precariedade da higiene oral observada poderia dever-se à falta de cuidados de higiene, à baixa prioridade que a saúde oral ocupa, à falta de protocolos de higiene e ainda ao baixo conhecimento em saúde oral dos prestadores de cuidados 17,19 . A realização da higiene oral nos idosos de uma forma frequente e regular, por parte dos cuidadores, apresenta numerosas barreiras, nomeadamente, a dificuldade psicológica de manusear a cavidade oral de outros e, adicionalmente, a pouca importância dada à higiene oral 20 .…”

Clinical outcome of root caries restorations using ART and rotary techniques in institutionalized elders

“…Uncooperative behavior in institutionalized elders leads to poorer oral hygiene and more caries. 4 This could also exacerbate the incomplete removal of decayed tissue (especially when it is performed with manual instruments), which in the presence of high levels of dental plaque is a risk factor for secondary caries. Although the present study did not examine this factor, future work should investigate it to determine the role it may play in treatment failure.…”

“…This is because they have limited access to dental healthcare services, physical or cognitive impairments, and, compared with those living in their homes, poorer oral hygiene and increased oro-dental diseases such as crown and root caries, which constitute an unsolved health problem. 3,4,5,6 Root caries is a multifactorial, progressive, chronic lesion that exhibits softened, irregular and darkened tissue on the radicular surface and involves cementum, dentin or enamel in the proximity of the cementoenamel junction with an initial appearance on the root surface. 7 Crown and root caries constitute one of the main causes of tooth loss in elderly individuals and Declaration of Interests: The authors certify that they have no commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the manuscript.…”

Oral care measures for preventing nursing home-acquired pneumonia

“…Oral health measures can be delivered by carers, nurses, dental care professionals or dentists (Ekstrand 2013;Zuluaga 2012).…”