Abstract
Recently, the influences of oral microbes on various systemic diseases have been clarified, suggesting the importance of oral care. In our previous pilot study, we proposed a classification of oral care needs and the oral care system for various categories of the elderly. In addition, the effect of the system was microbiologically evaluated when tested by dental hygienists and nurses before routine use by general care providers for the elderly.
In this study, the oral condition of independent and dependent elderly at a private residential home was microbiologically evaluated, concentrating on candida, mutans streptococci (MS), Lactobacilli (LB), anaerobes and turbidity. On the base line before stating the system, the number of candida detected from the tongue and dentures was higher in the independent than in the dependent, with a statistical difference. The number of MS and LB were higher in the independent subjects than in the dependent with a statistical difference. The number of oral anaerobes and turbidity were slightly higher in the mean value in the independent subjects than in the dependent, but there was no statistical difference by Mann-Whitney's U test analysis.
The results at 1 month after using the new oral care system were as follows. The mean number of candida detected from the tongue slightly decreased in both the independent and dependent subjects, but there was no statistical difference by ANOVA. The mean number of candida detected from dentures decreased to 1/10 in the independent subjects, and slightly increased in the dependent subjects, but there were no difference by ANOVA. The number of MS and LB decreased in both the independent and dependent subjects, but there was no statistical difference by Chi-square test. The mean number of anaerobes decreased in both the independent and dependent subjects, but there was no statistical difference by ANOVA. The mean turbidity slightly decreased in both the independent and dependent subjects, but there was no statistical difference by ANOVA.
