ABSTRACT
This paper examines the role of the general dental practitioner (GDP) in dementia awareness, using the close patient-practitioner relationship to spot the early signs and plan for future oral healthcare. Each and every member of the dental team plays an important role in the patient journey through their dental visit and helps address the barriers they face. The significance of promoting dementia friendly environments cannot be undervalued and the GDP has a key role in maintaining their patients' quality of life.
Subject(s)
Awareness , Dementia , Dentists , Professional Role , HumansABSTRACT
Profound neuro-disability due to severe brain damage affects approximately 1200 people per year in the UK. Approximately half of these patients exhibit exaggerated or abnormal oral reflexes. Biting, bruxism and ruminating movements may result in dental or soft tissue trauma, with severe lip or tongue lacerations. This paper describes 10 patients referred to the dental department at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability with lip bites and/or severe bruxism, during a 12-month period. Management options include: monitoring the lesion; smoothing teeth; providing a bite raising appliance; or extracting teeth. This paper discusses the difficulty in management of lip trauma in this group of patients and emphasizes the importance of an interdisciplinary approach.
Subject(s)
Bites, Human/etiology , Brain Damage, Chronic/complications , Lip/injuries , Self-Injurious Behavior/etiology , Adult , Bites, Human/therapy , Bruxism/etiology , Bruxism/therapy , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Occlusal Splints , Self-Injurious Behavior/therapy , Tooth ExtractionABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate difficulty chewing, consequent food choice and impacts using both open and closed questions within a semi-structured interview format. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study using a semi-structured interview (SSI) with open and closed questions. SETTING: Independently living people in South-West London interviewed in their own homes. SUBJECTS: A group of 54, edentate people (mean age 82, R = 60-93 years) were studied. RESULTS: Most subjects (69%) expressed difficulty eating at least one type of food, half were unwilling to eat the foods they found difficult, others were conscious of cooking longer or cutting smaller in order to manage these foods, although no one accepted that they overcooked food. There were dramatic differences in the number of subjects expressing difficulty to chew various foods when responding to open and closed questions. Roast beef proved a good discriminator in this group of predominantly English subjects. The importance of the questioning process was also shown by the discrepancy of responses between variously prepared apples and the inability of any subjects to bite an unpeeled apple. CONCLUSIONS: For sensitive appraisal of food choice it is obviously essential to assess relevant foods, for the culture of the group being studied. Open questions provide a way of exploring which are the appropriate foods and food preparation as criteria to assess perceived chewing ability and treatment benefit. The semi-structured interview method is particularly valuable for the study of older people. Closed questions provide different information which is also necessary to secure recall by older people.
Subject(s)
Aged/physiology , Food Preferences , Interviews as Topic/methods , Mouth, Edentulous/physiopathology , Aged, 80 and over , Chi-Square Distribution , Cooking , Female , Humans , Male , Mastication , Middle Aged , Mouth, Edentulous/psychologyABSTRACT
Some patients suffer from conditions that make holding toothbrushes difficult, if not impossible. This article describes a quick, simple and flexible method of adapting toothbrush handles to allow patients the best possible chance of performing adequate oral care.
