Innovations in Geriatric Oral Health Care.

Older adults are retaining their teeth and need strategies for a lifetime of oral health care. Daily prevention and professional preventive care have the most significant impacts on reducing oral disease in the aging population. Providers of oral health care extend beyond traditional dental professionals to include caregivers and health care providers through teledentistry and interprofessional collaboration. Dental and aging organizations advocate for the inclusion of a dental benefit in Medicare to address access to care. Innovations in geriatric oral health care involve advances in clinical oral health care, delivery and models of care, funding, research, education, and policy.

Innovations in Geriatric Oral Health Care.

Older adults are retaining their teeth and need strategies for a lifetime of oral health care. Daily prevention and professional preventive care have the most significant impacts on reducing oral disease in the aging population. Providers of oral health care extend beyond traditional dental professionals to include caregivers and health care providers through teledentistry and interprofessional collaboration. Dental and aging organizations advocate for the inclusion of a dental benefit in Medicare to address access to care. Innovations in geriatric oral health care involve advances in clinical oral health care, delivery and models of care, funding, research, education, and policy.

Oral healthcare systems for an ageing population: concepts and challenges.

Oral healthcare systems (OHCS) are designed to maintain the health and function through Communication (Health promotion and education), Prevention, Assessment and Diagnosis, and Treatment. The complexity of these OHCS functions for the ageing are described utilizing the spectrum of dependency of the Seattle Care Pathway framework. Barriers and disparities which challenge the development of OHCS for the ageing can be universal but often vary between developed and developing countries. Recognizing that oral diseases are largely preventable, strategies to improve OHCS must be targeted locally, nationally, and internationally at oral health policy, education, research, and clinical care.

Developing pathways for oral care in elders: evidence-based interventions for dental caries prevention in dentate elders.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries is becoming an ever-growing challenge as the number of elders maintaining their teeth increases. There is a need for low-cost, effective preventive interventions to retain natural teeth for elders. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to evaluate evidence based interventions for dentate elders, specifically the adjunct therapies of fluoride, chlorhexidine, xylitol, casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate, ozone, and herbal liquorice. RESULTS: Fluoride interventions have demonstrated prevention and remineralization of dental caries in elders. Systematic reviews of the literature are unable to establish definitive conclusions regarding the effectiveness of other adjunct therapies in dental caries prevention. CONCLUSIONS: Further research with elders requires improved study design with well designed multi-center trials. Considerations for new strategies for research of the effectiveness of therapies to reduce dental caries include the development and evaluation of combinations of therapeutic interventions and dental caries management by risk assessment.

The Seattle Care Pathway for securing oral health in older patients.

There is a need for a structured, evidence based approach to care for older dental patients. The following article describes the development of the Seattle Care Pathway based upon a workshop held in 2013. An overview is provided on the key issues of older persons dental care including the demography shift, the concept of frailty, the need for effective prevention and treatment to be linked to levels of dependency and the need for a varied and well educated work force. The pathway is presented in tabular form and further illustrated by the examples in the form of clinical scenarios. The pathway is an evidence based, pragmatic approach to care designed to be globally applicable but flexible enough to be adapted for local needs and circumstances. Research will be required to evaluate the pathways application to this important group of patients.

Oral healthcare access and adequacy in alternative long-term care facilities.

This study was undertaken to determine practices and perceived barriers to access related to oral health by surveying administrators in Michigan alternative long-term care facilities (ALTCF). A 24-item questionnaire was mailed to all 2,275 Michigan ALTCF serving residents aged 60+. Facility response rate was 22% (n = 508). Eleven percent of facilities had a written dental care plan; 18% stated a dentist examined new residents; and 19% of facilities had an agreement with a dentist to come to the facility, with 52% of those being for emergency care only. The greatest perceived barriers were willingness of general and specialty dentists to treat residents at the nursing facility and/or private offices as well as financial concerns. Substantial barriers to care were uniformly perceived. Oral health policies and practices within Michigan ALTCF vary, as measured by resources, attitudes, and the availability of professional care. There is limited involvement by dental professionals in creating policy and providing consultation and service.

Perceptions of oral health adequacy and access in Michigan nursing facilities.

OBJECTIVE: To determine practices and perceived access barriers (facility resources, attitudes and professional dental involvement) related to oral health by surveying directors of nursing (DONs) in Michigan nursing homes (NHs). BACKGROUND: DONs are crucial to NH practice and policy, so understanding their perceptions of oral health care is vital. METHODS: A 27-item questionnaire exploring aspects of oral health was mailed to all 402 Michigan NH. Descriptive statistics were calculated for response items. RESULTS: Facility response rate was 32% (n = 129). Sixty-three per cent of facilities had a written dental care plan primarily co-ordinated by nursing staff and social workers. Stationary dental equipment was available in 3% of facilities. Thirty-eight per cent stated an examination by a dentist was provided to new residents. Seventy-five per cent of residents identified as needing dental treatment were likely to receive it. Of the 28% of residents receiving dental treatment beyond an examination in the past year, 28% received emergent care. Over 50% of responding DONs indicated satisfaction with how oral hygiene needs were met in their facilities. The greatest perceived barriers were willingness of general and specialty dentists to treat residents at the nursing facility and/or their private offices as well as financial concerns of the resident and/or family. Generally, greater resources were available in urban facilities, but substantial barriers to care were uniformly perceived. CONCLUSION: Oral health policies and practices within Michigan NH vary, as measured by resources, attitudes, and the availability of professional care. Dental involvement in policy creation, provision of consultation, and service is limited.

Relationship between periodontal disease and C-reactive protein among adults in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study.

BACKGROUND: Moderately elevated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration is a systemic marker of inflammation and a documented risk factor for cardiovascular disease in otherwise healthy persons. Unrecognized infections, such as periodontal disease, may induce an acute-phase response, elevating CRP levels. We evaluated the association between periodontal disease and CRP levels in adults in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. METHODS: Oral examinations were conducted between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 1998, on 5552 ARIC participants (aged 52-74 years) from 4 US communities. Periodontal disease was quantified as the percentage of periodontal sites with pocket depth of 4 mm or more. Serum CRP concentration was quantified in milligrams per liter using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Mean (SE) CRP level was 7.6 (0.6) mg/L among people with extensive periodontal pockets (>30% of sites with pocket depth > or =4 mm), approximately one-third greater than that for people with less extensive periodontal pockets (5.7 [0.1] mg/L). In a multivariable linear regression model that controlled for age, sex, diabetes mellitus, cigarette use, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, the association of extensive periodontal pockets with CRP concentration was modified by body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters). For people with a BMI of 20, the model predicted a 2-fold difference in mean CRP concentration between periodontal pocket groups (7.5 vs 3.6 mg/L), but the difference decreased with increasing BMI and was negligible when BMI equaled 35. CONCLUSIONS: Extensive periodontal disease and BMI are jointly associated with increased CRP levels in otherwise healthy, middle-aged adults, suggesting the need for medical and dental diagnoses when evaluating sources of acute-phase response in some patients.