Petrovski, Mihajlo and Kovacevska, Ivona and Terzieva-Petrovska, Olivera and Papakoca, Kiro and Minovska, Ana and Carceva-Salja, Sofija (2018) Oral health assessment among elderly in long term residences. Knowledge - International Journal, Scientific and Applicative Papers, 26 (4). pp. 1347-1354. ISSN 1857-92
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Abstract
Elderly people accommodated in long-term care institutions have increased oral problems and
characteristic oral health. In the elderly, dominant oral diseases that can be noticed are dental caries and its
complications, untreated and unextracted dental roots, oral mucosa changes and diseases and numerous oral
infections, precancerous conditions, and benign and malignant tumors, pain in the temporal-mandibular joint,
xerostomy and of course the partial or total toothless. Having in mind the poor oral and dental health of elderly
people accommodated in long-term care centers, the purpose of this research was established - to determine the
different conditions of oral health and hygiene in a predefined population group. For realization of the previously
mentioned goal, an adequate survey was conducted in the retirement home "Zafir Sajto" in Kumanovo, which
included a total number of 40 respondents over the age of 60 who were institutionalized in this long-ter care centar
for more than a year. In order to assess the attitudes of the subjects towards their own oral and dental health in this
population, an anonymous questionnaire was used. The subjects answered questions that would help us to identify
the risk factors that are responsible for the present conditions of oral health, as well as their habits in maintaining
oral hygiene. From the data processed, it was noticed that persons with less than five teeth are most common, with
90% of the respondents, while none of the respondents has satisfied the optimal oral health criterion. In more than
two-thirds of the examinations (more precisely 67.5%), any prosthetic device was present despite its need, which
can easily be estimated through the average number of remaining teeth among the examinees. 62.5% of the subjects
indicated that they do not maintain oral hygiene. Hence, it was noted that most of the respondents did not carry oral
hygiene, while the percentage of subjects who brushed their teeth at least twice a day is also small. Regarding the
question when their last visit to the dentist, according to the answers, we noted that 93% or 37 subjects did not visit
their dentist at all in the last six months to a year. The most frequent reason for visiting a dentist according to the
respondents is urgent conditions, that is, the onset of pain or swelling. Recognizing such poor oral health and
hygiene in this population represented by the loss of a large number of teeth, absence of prosthetic devices and a
large amount of dental plaque, the necessity of creating a protocol for improving oral health in elderly people placed
in institutions for long-term care is more then needed. It should also be noted that is necessary to create a strategy
for educating the staff responsible for these elderly people in foster care institutions, which will refer to
acquaintance with oral diseases and their prevention, as well as the basic methods for removing the dental plaque
from the areas of the oral cavity in the elderly for whom they are responsible.
Keywords: oral health, oral hygiene, elderly people, institutionalized elderly people
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Medical and Health Sciences > Basic medicine Medical and Health Sciences > Health sciences Medical and Health Sciences > Other medical sciences |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Medical Science |
| Depositing User: | Mihajlo Petrovski |
| Date Deposited: | 08 Oct 2018 12:38 |
| Last Modified: | 08 Oct 2018 12:38 |
| URI: | https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/20482 |
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