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Efficacy and acceptance of professional dental cleaning among nursing home residents

Clinical Oral Investigations volume 23, pages 707–713 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives

To determine the impact of general and oral health status of nursing home residents in Germany on efficacy and acceptance of professional dental cleaning performed by a dental nurse.

Materials and methods

Participants (N = 41; mean age 83 ± 8 years) living in a nursing home were included. Personal and general health, oral health, oral hygiene habits, and needs were investigated. Individual acceptance regarding professional dental cleaning via different devices (scaler, interdental brushes, ultrasonic cleaning) was assessed, as was the efficacy of this method using after-cleaning indices.

Results

Oral health among nursing home residents was impaired and independent from dementia status. Most residents (33/41) performed oral hygiene procedures independently and showed better index values than those in need of external help. Residents requiring help with oral hygiene showed increased risk profiles (higher age, more often immobile, demented, more xerostomia). The dental cleaning procedure required a mean time of 37 ± 11 min, was widely accepted (36/41), and achieved clean results (plaque index 0.1 ± 0.5, oral hygiene index 0.2 ± 1.6, Volpe-Manhold index 0.4 ± 1.6); food residues were reduced to 0 independent from cognitive status. Regarding the cleaning methods, scalers were accepted best without difference between demented and non-demented residents.

Conclusions

Professional dental cleaning in nursing homes is an accepted and efficacious oral hygiene procedure among nursing home residents.

Clinical relevance

Professional dental cleaning is an efficacious and accepted method as a first step in line with strategies to improve oral health and should be considered in nursing home residents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Dental Medicine, Department of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 32, 50931, Cologne, Germany

    Anna Greta Barbe, Hannah Elisa Kottmann, Sonja Henny Maria Derman & Michael Johannes Noack

  2. Institute of Medical Statistics and Computational Biology, University of Cologne, 50924, Cologne, Germany

    Stefanie Hamacher

Authors
  1. Anna Greta Barbe
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  2. Hannah Elisa Kottmann
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  3. Stefanie Hamacher
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  4. Sonja Henny Maria Derman
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  5. Michael Johannes Noack
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Correspondence to Anna Greta Barbe.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study or their legal guardians.

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Barbe, A.G., Kottmann, H.E., Hamacher, S. et al. Efficacy and acceptance of professional dental cleaning among nursing home residents. Clin Oral Invest 23, 707–713 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-018-2487-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-018-2487-x

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