Effects of professional oral health care on elderly: randomized trial

• Published in: International journal of dental hygiene Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 291 - 297
• Main Authors: Morino, T, Ookawa, K, Haruta, N, Hagiwara, Y, Seki, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2014
• Subjects: Aged; Bacterial Load; Clinical trials; Dental care; Dental Care for Aged; Dental Plaque Index; Dentistry; Denture Cleansers - therapeutic use; elderly; Follow-Up Studies; Fusobacterium - isolation & purification; Health Status; Humans; Middle Aged; Mouth - microbiology; Older people; Oral Health; Oral hygiene; Prevotella - isolation & purification; professional oral health care; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - isolation & purification; randomized trial; Saliva - microbiology; Saliva - secretion; Streptococcus - isolation & purification; Toothbrushing - methods; Treatment Outcome; professional oral health care; elderly; randomized trial
• ISSN: 1601-5029; 1601-5037
• DOI: 10.1111/idh.12068

Objective To better understand the role of the professional oral health care for elderly in improving geriatric oral health, the effects of short‐term professional oral health care (once per week for 1 month) on oral microbiological parameters were assessed. Methods Parallel, open‐labelled, randomize‐controlled trial was undertaken in a nursing home for elderly in Shizuoka, Japan. Thirty‐four dentate elderly over 74 years were randomly assigned from ID number to the intervention (17/34) and control (17/34) groups. The outcomes were changes in oral microbiological parameters (number of bacteria in unstimulated saliva; whole bacteria, Streptococcus, Fusobacterium and Prevotella: opportunistic pathogens detection: and index of oral hygiene evaluation [Dental Plaque Index, DPI]) within the intervention period. Each parameter was evaluated at before and after intervention period. Four elderly were lost from mortality (1), bone fracture (1), refused to participate (1) and multi‐antibiotics usage (1). Finally, 30 elderly were analysed (14/intervention and 16/control). Results At baseline, no difference was found between the control and intervention groups. After the intervention period, the percentage of Streptococcus species increased significantly in the intervention group (Intervention, 86% [12/14]; Control, 50% [8/16]: Fisher's, right‐tailed, P < 0.05). Moreover, DPI significantly improved in the intervention group (Intervention, 57% [8/14]; Control, 13% [2/16]: Fisher's, two‐tailed, P < 0.05). The improvement in DPI extended for 3 months after intervention. None of side effects were reported. Conclusion The short‐term professional oral health care can improve oral conditions in the elderly.