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Tidskrift

Sammanfattning

The proportion of citizens over the age of 85 years are increasing in the Nordic countries and includes an even more rapidly increasing group of elderly suffering from dementia. Moreover, considerable changes in oral health have taken place during the last few decades, i.e. the average number of teeth has increased among older people. On the other hand, oral diseases are more frequent among elderly who are dependent on practical support from others in their daily oral-hygiene procedures. Studies show that elderly in nursing homes and in domiciliary care are vulnerable patient groups with substantial oral problems; many old and disabled persons are under medication, which causes symptoms such as dry mouth and reduced chewing ability and attention has been drawn to the impact of oral disease on general health. Furthermore, dental care can bee complicated by the frequent occurrence of general disease and polyfarmacy among nursing home residents. This requires special consideration in the delivery of dental care to nursing home residents. The attention should be drawn to the way dental professionals work together with the nursing staff, how dental professional estimate the dental treatment need of the individual resident and the possibilities and limitations in provision of dental care by mobile dentistry.

MeSH