Oral hygiene caregivers' educational programme improves oral health conditions in institutionalised independent and functional elderly.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to determine the impact of an oral hygiene education programme for caregivers on the oral health of institutionalised elderly and to examine the effect of disability and low muscle strength on programme outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The subjects of this study were geriatric patients (n = 80) from a nursing home. Katz Index for activities of daily living, handgrip strength and mucosal-plaque score (MPS) was evaluated at baseline and 1 year after intervention. The intervention consisted of an educational programme and specific guidelines for caregivers (to perform oral hygiene for dependent elderly and to supervise the independent elderly during oral hygiene practices). Differences on MPS were evaluated using a paired-sample t-test. A stratified analysis was carried out to identify differences in response to the programme according to the Katz Index and handgrip strength of elderly. RESULTS: The MPS was significantly reduced (p = 0.001) at follow-up; however, a separate analysis showed that only the independent elderly (p = 0.002) and those with normal muscle strength (p = 0.006) showed a reduction in MPS during the follow-up examination. CONCLUSION: The oral hygiene education programme for caregivers resulted in a positive impact on oral hygiene of the independent and functional elderly.

Tobacco use and smoking cessation among third-year dental students in southern Brazil.

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to assess tobacco use and smoking cessation among third-year dental students in southern Brazil. The Global Health Professions Student Survey questionnaire was used in eight dental schools in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Of the 663 eligible students, 576 (87%) participated. The prevalence of current smoking was 19.1% [95% confidence interval (CI): 12.9-25.3%], and 61.6% (95% CI: 54.9-68.3%) of students reported having smoked at least once in their lifetime. The prevalence of dental students who had smoked ≥ 100 cigarettes in their lifetime was 17.1% (95% CI: 12.5-21.7%). Being frequently exposed to other smokers at home or in other places (second-hand smoke) increased the likelihood of current smoking by two- to threefold. Approximately 6.1% (95% CI: 3.5-8.7%) of the students reported that they currently wanted to stop smoking and 7.5% (95% CI: 5.3-9.6%) had tried to stop smoking in the last year. Friends and family were the most frequent sources of help or counselling, and only a limited proportion of students received help from health professionals. Tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoking is widespread among dental students in southern Brazil. Smoking-cessation initiatives targeting health care students are urgently needed.