HANAGATA Tetsuo, TAMURA Fumiyo, KIKUTANI Takeshi, KATAGIRI Haruka, SEKINO Satoshi, HISANO Akiko, KONISHI Kiyoshi, TAKAHASHI Yukihiro, YAJIMA Ayako, YOSHIDA Mitsuyoshi, SUMI Kohei, MITSUZUKA Kenji
Ronen Shika Igaku, 23(4) 424-434, Mar 31, 2009
Purpose The aim of this study wasto clarify the efficacy of the management of oral health care carried out by dental hygienists at a nursing home.<BR>Methods: A total of 142 subjects, living in twofacilities (facility A; 82 subjects, mean age 85.9±7.5 years, and facility B; 60 subjects, mean age 85.6±8.3 years) for dependent elderly persons in Yamanashi Prefecture, participated in this study. The intervention period was 8 months, and the evaluation of oral hygiene conditions by visual examination and oral bacteria test was performed three times: before intervention, after 4 months, and after the end of the intervention. In facility A, dental hygienists performed general oral cleaning for 20 randomly-chosen subjects directly, and gave advice aboutoral health care to the other subjects. In facility B, dental hygienists prepared an interventional oral care plan for the subjects, based on the risk assessment of each subject's oral condition, and conducted oral care intervention in cooperation with the facility staff. In addition, a survey of the attitude of nursing stuff toward the interventional plan was conducted.<BR>Results: In subjects at facility A, there was no significant difference in the number of oral bacteria within the intervention period, while in subjects at facility B, the number of oral bacteria at the last intervention significantly decreased (p<0.05). The results of the survey indicated some differences between the two facilities in the attitude of the facility staff to the interventional plan.<BR>Conclusion: Management of oral health care at a nursing home was proven to be mo t effective when a total oral health care plan was made, considering the facilities, equipment and the dental hygienists' interventional method. We confirmed the importance of the management of oral health care.