Folker Louise
Department of Odontology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, København, Denmark.
Copenhagen Centre for Health Research in the Humanities (CoRe), Faculty of Humanities, South Campus, Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, København, Denmark.
Sociol Health Illn. 2025 Jul;47(6):e70061. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.70061.
This study identifies dental disgust as a widespread experience among carers while caring for decayed and ill mouths, hindering vital daily dental care among care-dependent older people. It is based on an ethnographic study conducted in nursing homes, home-care units and a rehabilitation centre in Danish elderly care, and it suggests that dental disgust plays a profound role in the impairment of oral health in elderly care settings. The study demonstrates that dental disgust remains unacknowledged in care systems and care studies, leaving carers inappropriate/d, shameful and solely responsible for handling it. It explores dental disgust through Julia Kristeva's notion of abjection (1982) to illuminate some of its care-hindering dynamics. It further draws on Donna Haraway's thoughts on articulation as a means of imagining better futures for people who have been depreciated as inappropriate (1992). Thereby, it suggests that the carers' articulations of dental disgust must be acknowledged and handled collectively. The study states that supporting carers institutionally and in research can help eliminate the inappropriateness of dental disgust, enabling future dental care. The study offers an analytical framework that transfers the theoretical terms 'abjection' and 'articulation' to socio-materially situated settings and into practice-relevant usage when disgust interferes with care.
本研究发现，在照顾患有龋齿和口腔疾病的老人时，护理人员普遍会产生牙齿厌恶情绪，这阻碍了依赖他人照顾的老年人进行重要的日常口腔护理。该研究基于在丹麦老年护理机构的养老院、家庭护理单位和康复中心所进行的人种志研究，研究表明牙齿厌恶在老年护理环境中的口腔健康损害方面起着深远作用。研究表明，护理系统和护理研究中对牙齿厌恶现象仍未予以承认，使得护理人员在处理这一问题时感到不适当、羞耻且独自承担责任。本研究通过朱莉娅·克里斯蒂娃的“厌恶”概念（1982年）来探讨牙齿厌恶，以阐明其一些阻碍护理的动态机制。研究还借鉴了唐娜·哈拉维关于表达的观点，将其作为为那些被贬低为不适当的人设想更美好未来的一种方式（1992年）。因此，研究建议必须承认并集体处理护理人员对牙齿厌恶的表达。该研究指出，在制度层面和研究中支持护理人员有助于消除牙齿厌恶的不适当性，从而实现未来的口腔护理。该研究提供了一个分析框架，当厌恶情绪干扰护理时，将“厌恶”和“表达”这两个理论术语应用于社会物质环境，并转化为与实践相关的用法。
