The oral health status of nursing home residents: what do we need to know?
نویسنده
چکیده
O ral health care for elder residents of nursing homes often presents a challenge, particularly to those individuals who must rely on caregivers for their daily oral health maintenance. These caregivers assume the daily responsibility for good oral hygiene practices that were once the responsibility of the patient. Because of this shift in responsibility, monitoring of the oral health status of elder residents becomes very important. Approximately 5 percent of Americans over the age of sixty-five, now about 1.75 million people, are residents of long-term care facilities where they have problems receiving adequate dental care. There are relatively scant data on the utilization of dental services by residents, but what are available indicate low utilization. A high prevalence of oral disease and the need for dental treatment are also evident. It is essential that adequate and reliable information about the oral health status of residents in long-term care facilities be available to patients, their families, oral health care providers, caregivers, facility managers, federal/state nursing facilities surveyors, and managers of assistance programs. This information can be invaluable in designing, monitoring, and improving oral health care practices so that the oral health of residents of long-term care facilities can be optimized. This article will discuss information-gathering and reporting on the oral health status of residents in long-term care facilities. Some suggestions will be offered to enhance the quality of the information gathered with the view of making that information more valuable in serving the oral health needs of this vulnerable elderly population.
منابع مشابه
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عنوان ژورنال:
- Journal of dental education
دوره 69 9 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2005