2022 Volume 72 Issue 3 Pages 178-184
Although the demand for home-visit dentistry is increasing each year, it is difficult for dental care workers to visit the same facilities every day, and elderly residents of facilities often rely on them or caregivers of the facilities for daily oral care. However, there is a chronic shortage of human resources in nursing homes, and it is important to appropriately allocate caregivers’ time to the residents who are in most need of oral care. It is expected that the roles of dental professionals will increase in the future to include the allocation of caregivers’ time. The purpose of this study was to clarify the association between the independence of oral cleaning by elderly persons living in a facility and oral care intervention by caregivers.
The study participants were 54 residents of special nursing homes for elderly persons. Items associated with the general condition, oral care, and oral condition were investigated. Statistical analysis was performed after crosstabulation between the degree of independence in oral cleaning (independence/partial or full caregiving required), underlying disease, and each item.
The degree of independence in oral cleaning was found to be associated with age (Mann-Whitney’s U test, p<0.01) and degree of nursing care (Fisher’s direct probability method, p<0.01). In addition, in the group requiring oral cleaning assistance, the number of oral care interventions by the care staff was high, and the duration of oral care intervention tended to increase per time (Fisher’s direct probability method, p<0.01).
In the future, it will be necessary to expand the survey facilities, increase the number of subjects, and continue the survey considering the degree of disability caused by each disease.
