Oral health promotion for the older adult: implications for dental and dental hygiene practitioners.

The role of the dental and dental hygiene practitioner in geriatric oral health promotion can be viewed in terms of three questions. What purposeful or directed steps have been taken to improve oral health promotion? How can health promotion be improved? How can education and research help the practitioner? Professional associations, educators, researchers, school curricula, instructional programs, and dental products companies have tried to improve oral health promotion. At each level, communication of information and effective use of information has been compromised. Geriatric oral health promotion can be improved by increased understanding of: (1) health promotion concepts, (2) cultural and generational issues, (3) chronic oral conditions, (4) patients' perspective, (5) promoting behavior change, (6) listening skills, (7) patients' everyday realities, (8) integrating oral health issues into other health promotion activities, (9) creating easy to understand health education materials, and (10) lobbying for third party reimbursement for oral health promotion.

Dental needs and perceptions of adult Hispanic migrant farmworkers in Colorado.

To identify oral health needs, 231 adult Hispanic migrant farmworkers participated in an oral interview and dental epidemiologic survey in Colorado in summer 1986. DMFT and CPITN scores and restorative treatment needs were recorded. Overall treatment needs then were calculated. Mean DMFT was 9; 85% had one or more decayed teeth and 66% had one or fewer filled teeth. Analysis of CPITN scores revealed 69% displaying ADA perio cases types I and II, and 28% with ADA case types III and IV. Twenty-two percent of the sample had never received dental care, with another 56% not having received regular care. Barriers to care are cost, time factors, and perceptions of ineffective diagnosis or treatment. Differences by age, sex, language, education, home base, and care-seeking status are presented. Results document the need for increased preventive and treatment services and education for migrant adults.

Training dental and nondental professionals together: the oral health gerontology fellows program.

This project demonstrated the feasibility of training dental and nondental professionals to develop and implement programs in oral health care of older adults. Eight self-guided study modules were developed and tested. Trainees drawn from dentistry, dental hygiene, nursing, and planning/administration completed a 6-month individualized training program under the guidance of faculty mentors. Program structure, content, and implications are discussed.

Characteristics of dental teaching patients.

Questionnaires were distributed to adult patients in a representative national sample of nine dental schools to solicit information on patient demographics, use of services, and perception of the care received. Responses from 2,346 patients were analyzed and compared to findings from various local studies. Results indicate: age range of patients and type of dental needs available to students is extremely variable among schools, the major referral system is through friends and relatives, most patients pay for all of their care and seek care at dental schools because of reasonable costs, transportation and parking pose significant problems for some patients, the majority of respondents had been patients for two years or less, and many patients want all of their clinical and interpersonal dental needs met in the school setting. Dental schools seriously need to consider such factors in light of current and projected teaching patient shortages.

Current availability of patients in dental hygiene programs.

Dental hygiene programs were surveyed to determine current availability of patients to meet the training needs of dental hygiene students. Eighty-six percent of the programs responded. Widespread inadequate to marginal patient availability was reported in periodontics and radiology. Two major reasons cited for patient shortages were, first, that completion of treatment requires too much time, and, second, that people are unaware of the scope of services performed by students. Patient shortages do not appear to be contributing to changes in the curriculum or fiscal problems in dental hygiene programs.