Abstract
The object of this study was to understand how dementia influences dental treatment. The subjects were 106 patients treated in the geriatric health facilities of Gifu Prefecture. They were divided into dementia and non-dementia groups.
The following three points were compared between the two groups: the ability to do easy dental treatment, mouth cleaning and the aspect of patients' and dental staff's safety.
The results showed a clear, decline in the ability to do mouth cleaning and to explain their chief complaints in the dementia group.Contrary to this, more than 80% of the dementia group could undergo dental examination and diagnosis. As for the subjects' attitude toward dental staff there were 10% habitually aggressive persons in the dementia group.
From these results, it was suggested that dental treatment was possible for 80% of the patients with dementia for dentists with a good knowledge of senile dementia.
