Gerritsen Paul, Cune Marco, van der Bilt Andries, Abbink Jan, de Putter Cornelis
Department of Oral-Maxillofacial Surgery and Special Dental Care, UMC Utrecht.
Spec Care Dentist. 2015 May-Jun;35(3):132-7. doi: 10.1111/scd.12104. Epub 2015 Jan 16.
To determine effects of integrated dental care in older nursing home residents.
In three nursing homes offering integrated dental care, we studied the oral treatment need of 355 residents older than 70 years. To determine effects of integrated care, we discriminated between short-stay residents (≤6 months) and long-term residents (>6 months).
Treatment need, determined intraorally by two dentists, remains high among short-stay residents (78%) and long-term residents (67%). The association between treatment need and length of stay was not significantly affected by indication for stay (somatic vs. psychogeriatric). All dentate residents needed oral treatment, except one long-term resident. However, among edentulous residents, particularly with a psychogeriatric indication for stay, treatment need appeared to reduce significantly in time, from 74% to 57%.
Despite integrated dental care, oral treatment need remains in virtually all dentate residents and more than half of edentulous residents.
