The oral health of older Australians living in nursing homes is
highlighted in two new reports released today by the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare.
Up until 20 years ago, nearly all nursing home residents had no
natural teeth remaining and wore dentures. By the late 1990s,
nearly half of all Adelaide nursing home residents retained some of
their natural teeth.
The Adelaide Dental Study of Nursing Homes 1998 and its
companion report, One-year Follow-up 1999, show an insight
into the onset and progression of dental decay and other dental
problems in older South Australians.
Director of the AIHW's Dental Statistics and Research Unit, John
Spencer, said that oral health of nursing home residents had
changed rapidly over the last two decades.
'The percentage of residents with no natural teeth who wear
dentures is rapidly decreasing and we have a new group of older
residents with most of their natural teeth,' Professor Spencer
said.
Report co-author, Jane Chalmers, said that residents' complex
problems complicated the provision of dental care. 'About 80% of
residents have some form of dementia and their carers encounter
difficult behavioural and communication problems when providing
oral hygiene care.'
The report shows that most South Australian nursing home
residents in the 1990s had large numbers of untreated decayed teeth
and developed new decay on tooth crowns and roots-at a rate that
was many times greater than in other older South Australians.
'Over one year, 64% of residents developed new decay on the
crowns of their teeth, and about 50% developed decay on the roots
of their teeth,' Dr Chalmers said. 'Residents with the highest
rates of new tooth decay were those experiencing eating problems
and weight loss over time.'
'New residents were also being admitted to nursing homes with
already untreated dental decay and developed further problems
within a few months of their admittance.'
The report highlights the need for better organisation and
delivery of dental care for residents. Dental service provision for
nursing home residents was low, with only 30% of dentists involved.
On average these dentists spent less than 2 hours per month
providing care in nursing homes over the 12-month period.
'The provision of oral hygiene care and dental treatment for
these older Australians is a challenge for both carers and the
dental profession,' Professor Spencer said.
'Improvements in oral health promotion activities in residential
care, and more portable dental equipment for dentists to use are
essential.'
5 December 2001
Further information:
Professor John Spencer, DSRU, tel. 08 8303 5438
Dr Jane Chalmers, DSRU, tel. 08 8303 4048
Dr Roger Antoniazzi, President, Australian Dental
Association (SA),
tel. 08 8272 9087.
Media copies of the report: Publications Officer,
AIHW, 02 6244 1032, or check this website for the fact sheet.
Availability: Check the AIHW
Publications Catalogue for availability of Adelaide Dental Study of
Nursing Homes 1998 and One Year Follow-up
1999, or the DSRU website for a
PDF version.