1. Introduction
malnutrition, tooth brushing, teeth and dentures, teeth or dentures, Depression, denture, inadequate dentures
DENTAL CARIES, DENTAL PLAQUE, PLAQUE, PERIODONTAL DISEASE, MALNUTRITION
Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of individual oral health care training (IndOHCT) on dental plaque removal and denture cleaning in hospitalized geriatric inpatients. Background: The literature reveals neglect of hygiene and oral care in people aged over 65 years, especially in persons in need of care. Hospitalized geriatric inpatients have poorer dental health than those non-hospitalized. Furthermore, the existing literature reporting on oral healthcare training interventions for hospitalized geriatric inpatients is scarce. Materials and Methods: This pre-post-controlled intervention study dichotomized 90 hospitalized geriatric inpatients into an intervention group (IG) and a control group (CG). Inpatients in the IG received IndOHCT. Oral hygiene was assessed using the Turesky modified Quigley–Hein index (TmQHI) and the denture hygiene index (DHI), at baseline (T0), at a second examination (T1a), and after supervised autonomous tooth brushing and denture cleaning (T1b). The influence of the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and Barthel Index (BI) scores on oral hygiene was examined. Results: There was no significant plaque reduction on teeth or dentures between T0 and T1a in either group. Between T1a and T1b, plaque reduction on the teeth was more effective in the IG than in the CG (The increased proportion of older people in the general population is expected to increase the need for care in the coming centuries [Due to the prioritization of acute medical care during hospitalization, little focus is given to oral hygiene and oral health care in the hospital setting [Oral health has a significant impact on general health [In addition, malnutrition is one of the major problems in the treatment of geriatric inpatients. This is caused by impaired chewing function, which is associated with the consumption of soft and unhealthy food [The literature reveals neglect of hygiene and oral care in people aged over 65 years [Neglected oral hygiene significantly impairs quality of life. Several studies have described the association of dental caries, periodontal disease, and inadequate dentures with quality-of-life deterioration in older people [Studies focusing on oral hygiene in geriatric inpatients are limited [The aim of the present case-controlled intervention study was to assess the oral health and oral hygiene status of geriatric inpatients and to evaluate the efficacy of dental and denture cleaning training interventions on plaque reduction. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) individualized oral health care training improves the oral hygiene status of geriatric inpatients, (2) age, sex, and oral health status of geriatric inpatients have no influence on plaque removal on teeth and dentures, and (3) the geriatric assessment tests—Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and Barthel Index (BI) have no influence on plaque reduction on teeth and dentures.