Kroese Johanna Margaretha, Li Brigitta Yue Zhi, The Samuel Julian, Bruers Jan Joseph Mathieu
Department of Oral Medicine, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Oral Public Health, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Department of Oral Public Health, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Int Dent J. 2025 Apr;75(2):1384-1389. doi: 10.1016/j.identj.2024.10.023. Epub 2024 Dec 16.
The number of elderly people worldwide and their need for dental care increases in a yearly basis. A dental practice website can be a valuable source of information to these patients that may need comprehensive or adjusted care. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the information on Dutch general dental practice websites on topics relevant to the treatment of (frail) elderly patients. Websites were selected from (1) a random sample of 217 Dutch general dental practices (sample-group) and (2) dental practices of 130 members of the Dutch Association for Gerodontology (gero-group), and screened for items in 4 categories: website functionality, contact details and accessibility, composition of the dental team, and specific information for elderly patients. Of the selected websites, 196 in the sample-group and 54 in the gero-group were eligible for data collection. Most websites mentioned opening hours, a phone number, and the composition of the dental team. Other information was overall scarce, especially regarding (frail) elderly patients. The gero-group significantly more often mentioned elderly as a specific target patient group (11,1% vs 2,6%), but numbers were overall low. Websites in the gero-group were hardly more informative or adjusted to elderly than in the sample-group; wheelchair accessibility was the only feature mentioned significantly more often (37.0% vs 17.3%). Only one website in the sample-group and 2 websites in the gero-group mentioned the possibility of home visits. In conclusion, dental practice websites lack information in general, and information relevant to elderly patients in particular, and there is room for improvement in website functionality. Additionally, general dental practices seem insufficiently equipped for the treatment of (frail) elderly patients, highlighting the need for improvement of oral healthcare for this specific patient group. This study addresses the insufficiencies in the provision of information on dental practice websites, allowing for targeted future studies towards improvement.
全球老年人的数量及其对牙科护理的需求逐年增加。牙科诊所网站对于这些可能需要全面或调整后护理的患者而言，可能是一个有价值的信息来源。因此，本研究旨在评估荷兰普通牙科诊所网站上与（体弱）老年患者治疗相关主题的信息。网站选自：（1）从217家荷兰普通牙科诊所中随机抽取的样本（样本组），以及（2）荷兰老年牙科学会130名成员的牙科诊所（老年组），并针对以下4类项目进行筛选：网站功能、联系方式与可达性、牙科团队组成以及针对老年患者的特定信息。在所选网站中，样本组有196个网站、老年组有54个网站符合数据收集条件。大多数网站提到了营业时间、电话号码和牙科团队组成。其他信息总体较少，尤其是关于（体弱）老年患者的信息。老年组显著更常将老年人作为特定目标患者群体提及（11.1%对2.6%），但总体数量较低。老年组的网站在信息提供方面或针对老年人的调整方面，与样本组相比几乎没有更多优势；轮椅可达性是唯一被提及频率显著更高的特征（37.0%对17.3%）。样本组只有1个网站、老年组只有2个网站提到了上门就诊的可能性。总之，牙科诊所网站普遍缺乏信息，尤其是与老年患者相关的信息，网站功能还有改进空间。此外，普通牙科诊所似乎没有充分配备治疗（体弱）老年患者的条件，这凸显了改善这一特定患者群体口腔保健的必要性。本研究指出了牙科诊所网站信息提供方面的不足，为未来有针对性的改进研究提供了依据。
