Patient safety in domiciliary dental care for elderly nursing home residents in Sweden.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse patient safety in domiciliary dental care, with data from a quality registry. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. CLINICAL SETTING: Domiciliary dental care, private caregiver, Sweden, 2012-2014. METHODS: All reported events in the quality registry at a provider of domiciliary dental care, (2012-05-01 to 2014-06-30) were categorized into 14 domains, and for severity as 'minor', 'moderate', or 'serious' events. The reported events were also independently assessed by an experienced reviewer for national requirements of reporting patient safety related events. RESULTS: The quality registry covered 724 (0.03%) reported events during 218,586 consecutive treatment sessions in domiciliary dental care, including 628,070 registered dental procedures. Fifty (6.9%) of the reported events were patient safety related, of which 11 (1.5%) events were reportedly of minor severity, 20 (2.8%) as moderate, and 19 (2.6%) as serious. For all degrees of severity, the most frequently reported events were related to problems with patient identity control (3.3%). None of the events required reporting to national authorities. CONCLUSIONS: Domiciliary dental care has a low frequency of patient safety related events (0.03% of all treatments). Identity controls need to be emphasised in nursing homes or where individuals are dependent on the care of others.

[The first dentist in Tärna--a story with many turnabouts]. / Tärnas förste tandläkare--en historia med många bottnar.

This article is about a Norwegian dentist who in 1911 applied for permission to practice in Tärna, a Swedish community bordering on Norway in the North of Sweden. The application passed local and central authorities but the government refused.

[Elof Förberg--one of the pioneers of modern odontology]. / Elof Förberg--en av den moderna svenska odontologins fäder.

A short biography of Elof Förberg (1851-1923), dentist to H.M. the King. He was in many respects--professionally and culturally--the leading dentist in Sweden at the turn of the century. His many commissions, national and international, bear witness to Förberg's capability and distinction. Outside his professional sphere he took for example the initiative in creating the Swedish Linné Society and in restoring Linné's Botanical Gardens in Uppsala. He was an esteemed collector of art and books. His library included 15,000 volumes, among them a unique Linnaean collection and an excellent Strindberg collection.

Folate treatment of diphenylhydantoin-induced gingival hyperplasia.

It has recently been reported that folic acid supplementation reduced DPH-induced gingival hyperplasia in cat and in a pilot study also in man. The present study was performed to further evaluate this therapy in man. Twenty-three children with DPH-treatment for more than 1 yr, and eight children with short-time DPH-treatment were randomly assigned to groups with and without daily supplementation of folic acid (5 mg Folacin) for 1 yr. Although the DPH-levels were in many cases below the lower reference value, the seizure control of the children was good before and during the year of study. The plasma and red cell folate levels were within or above the given reference values in all but one child. There were no significant changes in the size of the gingival hyperplasias after 1 yr of folate supplementation. Nine severely mentally retarded DPH-treated adults were also given supplementation with folic acid. Their serum DPH-levels were above the higher reference values both at the start and during the study. Their plasma and red cell folic acid levels were below the reference value at the start of the study, but as a consequence of the Folacin supplementation these values rose. The size of the gingival hyperplasias was significantly reduced. Seizure control was unchanged. Folate levels should be checked and supplementation with folic acid considered in patients on long-term anticonvulsive multipharmacy therapy.

Dental health of national servicemen in Umeå.

The aim of the study was to examine dental health in three groups of national servicemen in Umeå, Västerbotten, to compare the dental health of the groups and to evaluate need for treatment. The material consisted of 282 recruits, 79 from Stockholm County (STHLM group) 96 from the urban parts of the County of Västerbotten (V-urban group) and 107 from the rural parts (V-rural group) of that county. The examination included registration of caries and restorations, gingival status, presence of calculus, pathological pockets and alveolar bone loss. Questions about oral hygiene measures, knowledge about and attitudes to dental health were also included. The results showed that the mean values for DFT and DFS were 13.7 and 24.0 respectively. The mean DFS-value was significantly lower in the V-urban group than in the STHLM group (P less than 0.01) and the V-urban group (P less than 0.001). The mean GBI% was 38.3 in the STHLM group, 32.9 in the V-urban group and 40.4 in the V-rural group. The mean value for surfaces in need of operative treatment was 2.9, with the highest value for the STHLM group (3.5). The mean number of surfaces with initial approximal caries lesions was 2.7. A more prophylactic approach by the military dental services would be desirable, and in future planning the need for dental hygienists should be considered.