TITLE:
Objective and Subjective Dental Treatment Needs among Nursing Home Residents
AUTHORS:
Carolin Mäding, Jörg Klewer, Robby Dietrich
KEYWORDS:
Oral Health Care, Nursing Home Residents, Request for Treatment, Dental Treatment Needs
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Aging Research,
Vol.4 No.2,
March
3,
2015
ABSTRACT: Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze oral, dental and denture hygiene, and the current treatment needs in nursing home residents. Design: Cross-sectional design. Setting: Nursing homes in Saxony, Germany. Participants and Intervention: Participating dentists recorded the frequency of oral, dental and denture care, dental treatment needs, and the request for treatment in 11,144 nursing home residents by using standardized checklists. Results: Mean age of the residents was 82.5 years, and 74.6% were females. For 54.0% of those examined, nursing staff did care for oral, dental, and denture hygiene. 77.5% of the residents performed oral hygiene more frequently than once daily, 19.8% only once a day, and 2.6% performed oral hygiene less frequent. A need for dental treatment was identified in 64.1% of the residents, of which 34.5% were missing dentures, and 29.7% suffered from dental diseases. 58.3% of the residents not requesting treatment had a clinical need for dental therapy. Objective and subjective need for treatment correlated positively (p