Current situation, future vision and enablers of nursing home oral healthcare in Singapore: Dentists' perspectives

Abstract

Objectives: To address the following research questions: (i) What is the current situation and future vision on oral healthcare service in nursing homes (NHs) in Singapore? (ii) What are the enablers to achieve the future vision? (iii) How do views differ between dentists with and without clinical experiences in NHs?. Background: Oral healthcare services in NHs need to reflect the perspectives of a diverse range of stakeholders and establish shared goals, however there is scarce evidence of in-depth dentists’ insights. Material and methods: Dentists were purposively recruited. Focus group discussions with 4–5 participants each were conducted via teleconferencing. Data were analysed thematically. Results: The participants (n = 19, median 36.0 years) recognised the need of comprehensive reform of the oral healthcare paradigm in NHs: symptomatic care to preventive care, disease-oriented care to person-centred care and more active collaborative care. Overall, five domains of enabling factors emerged: (1) to improve general system of oral healthcare in NHs, (2) to increase the number of dentists engaging in NHs, (3) to improve the quality of dental practice, (4) to improve the quality of daily oral care and (5) to promote seniors' cooperative attitude to oral healthcare. There was a noticeable difference in the perception on how to encourage dentists to serve in NHs. Conclusion: There is a need for a comprehensive reform of the oral healthcare paradigm for seniors in NHs in Singapore. A multi-tiered strategy using both top-down and bottom-up approaches is required.