Effectiveness of Individual Oral Health Care Training in Hospitalized Inpatients in Geriatric Wards

Stephanie Viebranz (), Marco Dederichs, Anja Kwetkat and Ina Manuela Schüler
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Stephanie Viebranz: Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Material Science, Centre for Dental Medicine, Jena University Hospital, 07743 Jena, Germany
Marco Dederichs: Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Material Science, Centre for Dental Medicine, Jena University Hospital, 07743 Jena, Germany
Anja Kwetkat: Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Care, Klinikum Osnabrück GmbH, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany
Ina Manuela Schüler: Section of Preventive and Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Orthodontics, Centre for Dental Medicine, Jena University Hospital, 07743 Jena, Germany

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of individual oral health care training (IndOHCT) on dental plaque removal and denture cleaning in hospitalized geriatric inpatients. Background: The literature reveals neglect of hygiene and oral care in people aged over 65 years, especially in persons in need of care. Hospitalized geriatric inpatients have poorer dental health than those non-hospitalized. Furthermore, the existing literature reporting on oral healthcare training interventions for hospitalized geriatric inpatients is scarce. Materials and Methods: This pre-post-controlled intervention study dichotomized 90 hospitalized geriatric inpatients into an intervention group (IG) and a control group (CG). Inpatients in the IG received IndOHCT. Oral hygiene was assessed using the Turesky modified Quigley–Hein index (TmQHI) and the denture hygiene index (DHI), at baseline (T0), at a second examination (T1a), and after supervised autonomous tooth brushing and denture cleaning (T1b). The influence of the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and Barthel Index (BI) scores on oral hygiene was examined. Results: There was no significant plaque reduction on teeth or dentures between T0 and T1a in either group. Between T1a and T1b, plaque reduction on the teeth was more effective in the IG than in the CG ( p < 0.001). Inpatients with 1–9 remaining teeth removed significantly more dental plaque than inpatients with 10 or more remaining teeth. Inpatients with lower MMSE scores ( p = 0.021) and higher age ( p = 0.044) reached higher plaque reduction on dentures. Conclusions: IndOHCT improved oral and denture hygiene in geriatric inpatients by enabling them to clean their teeth and dentures more effectively.

Keywords: dental plaque; oral health care training; denture hygiene; older people; geriatric inpatients (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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