Scoping Review: Oral Health Among Residents of Long Term Care

Objectives: To estimate the incidence of oral disease and oral symptoms among older adults in Long Term Care (LTC) and to estimate expected effects of any proposed intervention in the reduction of oral disease among older adults in LTC
Methods: This scoping review was be conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and the protocol for the scoping review has been uploaded onto the open science framework platform (tinyurl.com/OralhealthLTC). A detailed strategy was used to conduct a comprehensive search of electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, and Dentistry and Oral Sciences Source (DOSS).The Rayyan AI platform was used to screen abstracts for assessment by one of five co-investigators. 20 articles were randomly selected for testing the Microsoft Forms platform to collect data.
Results: The database search rendered 3847 possible articles of which 192 were included after initial screening. Of the 20 reviewed in the pilot assessment, one was excluded because the sample involved the wrong population (1) and two were excluded for being the wrong article type (2). Among the 17 reviewed articles published between 1995 and 2021; there were 8 cohort studies, 8 cross-sectional studies and 1 intervention study. There were 9 papers that involved residents of LTC, and 9 papers that presented data on dental caries. There were 4 papers that presented data on root caries, and 2 reported data on periodontal status. Synthesised data suggest LTC residents might have an average of 13.6 (SD 7.9) missing teeth, and a mean of 1.4-2.4 untreated root lesions with the expectation to develop between 0.4 and 0.8 new root caries lesions every year.
Conclusions: While the proportion of older adults who are dentate has increased, this preliminary data suggest that most still enter the later stages of life with active caries and without a functional dentition.