Effect of Regular Professional Supragingival Plaque Control in Elderly Nursing Home Residents:A Two-Year Study

• Published in: Ronen Shika Igaku Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 291 - 296
• Main Authors: Numabe, Yukihiro, Tamura, Fumiyo, Sekino, Satoshi, Kikutani, Takeshi, Hisano, Akiko, Fujita, Yuzo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society of Gerodontology 2013; 一般社団法人 日本老年歯科医学会
• Subjects: dental hygienist; elderly residents in nursing home; periodontitis; plaque control; tooth loss; プラークコントロール; 介護老人福祉施設入居者; 歯の喪失; 歯周炎; 歯科衛生士
• ISSN: 0914-3866; 1884-7323
• DOI: 10.11259/jsg.27.291

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of regular professional supra-gingival plaque control over 2 years on the dental hygiene status and periodontal conditions of elderly in need of care. The subjects were 88 nursing home elderly (mean age:81.8±9.1 years) in Taito-ku, Tokyo. Thirty nine subjects were excluded because they either moved away or died. Fifteen residents received weekly supra-gingival plaque control performed by dental hygienists in addition to habitual tooth brushing methods by themselves and/or helpers (intervention group) for a baseline. In another 34 subjects, self-performed tooth brushing and/or brushing by helpers were continued (control group). Probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), plaque index (PlI) were recorded at baseline and 2 years. Reduction of mean PlI in the intervention group was 0.3±0.4 in 2 years, while in the control group, mean PlI increased by 0.1±0.8. The differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences with respect to mean PPD, mean CAL and mean BOP between the groups. In the intervention group, 17 out of 199 teeth were lost (8.5%), while 36 out of 311 teeth were lost (11.6%) in the control group. These results demonstrated that systemic professional oral care performed by dental hygienist improved the oral hygiene status in elderly residents in nursing homes. A further large-scale study on the introduction of a meticulous oral hygiene program is necessary.