IADR Abstract Archives
The oral health of older adults living in nursing homes in Northern Ireland: an epidemiological study
Objectives: To utilise oral health screening data, collected by the Community Dental Service (CDS) in Northern Ireland, to establish an epidemiological picture of the oral health of nursing home residents.
Methods: In Northern Ireland the CDS provides periodic extraoral and intraoral examination of older adults living in nursing homes as part of an oral health needs assessment. This allows the dental staff to identify oral health problems in order to plan patients’ ongoing care. This screening data is stored by each of the Health and Social Care Trusts and is the basis for our data collection.
Results: Oral health screening data was available for 1116 residents (78% of all residents), from 43 nursing homes. Reasons listed for residents not undergoing an oral health screening included; “sleeping”, “in hospital” and “poor cooperation”. 68% of residents were female. The majority of residents were dentate (n=753, 67.5%) with 40 residents experiencing dental pain at the time of screening (5.6%). The total number of teeth present ranged from 0-31 (mean=9.54). A large proportion of residents had retained roots in situ (n=396; 52.6%). A total of 197 residents had caries charted on coronal or root surfaces (26.2%). 473 care home residents wore dentures (46.8%), with the majority constructed from acrylic resin (95.6%).
Conclusions: Although these are preliminary results it should be noted that over two thirds of care home residents in this sample were dentate. A large proportion of residents had active caries (26.2%) and large numbers of retained roots (52.6%). These results should be interpreted with caution as the challenges encountered in data collection within the nursing home setting may mean that clinical examinations have reduced accuracy.
Methods: In Northern Ireland the CDS provides periodic extraoral and intraoral examination of older adults living in nursing homes as part of an oral health needs assessment. This allows the dental staff to identify oral health problems in order to plan patients’ ongoing care. This screening data is stored by each of the Health and Social Care Trusts and is the basis for our data collection.
Results: Oral health screening data was available for 1116 residents (78% of all residents), from 43 nursing homes. Reasons listed for residents not undergoing an oral health screening included; “sleeping”, “in hospital” and “poor cooperation”. 68% of residents were female. The majority of residents were dentate (n=753, 67.5%) with 40 residents experiencing dental pain at the time of screening (5.6%). The total number of teeth present ranged from 0-31 (mean=9.54). A large proportion of residents had retained roots in situ (n=396; 52.6%). A total of 197 residents had caries charted on coronal or root surfaces (26.2%). 473 care home residents wore dentures (46.8%), with the majority constructed from acrylic resin (95.6%).
Conclusions: Although these are preliminary results it should be noted that over two thirds of care home residents in this sample were dentate. A large proportion of residents had active caries (26.2%) and large numbers of retained roots (52.6%). These results should be interpreted with caution as the challenges encountered in data collection within the nursing home setting may mean that clinical examinations have reduced accuracy.