Professional Domiciliary Oral Care for Elderly in Nursing Homes—A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Abstract

Domiciliary dental care (DDC) makes regular dental visits possible for people with different functional limitations who otherwise would not be able to access a dental clinic. DDC also facilitates cooperation with nursing staff. To our knowledge, the effect of DDC on oral health among elderly people in nursing homes has not been studied. As part of a project to establish recommendations for DDC, the aim of this randomized, controlled, single-blind, pilot trial with three parallel arms was to study the effect of professionally conducted oral care intervention, in domiciliary setting, on gingival bleeding on probing, dental plaque and oral mucosa. For three months, the participants were given either A) monthly professional DDC with oral care intervention, B) monthly individual oral care instructions, or C) oral care as usual. A total of 102 (n = 107) individuals completed the study. After three months, gingival bleeding on probing was significantly reduced among more participants in groups A and B compared with group C (p < 0.0004). Dental plaque scores changed significantly over three months for group B compared with group C (p < 0.04). Mucosal-plaque scores were significantly reduced in group A compared with both group B and C (p < 0.0001). All other intergroup differences were statistically non-significant. Compared with care as usual, professional DDC has the most favourable effect on gingival bleeding, whereas individual oral care instructions result in the highest reduction of dental plaque. Both professional oral care interventions and individual oral-hygiene instructions should be included in a domiciliary oral-care programme.