Elderly need dental hygienists

Dental hygienists should play a more prominent role in providing dental care to residents of aged care facilities, according to a recent study in the journal Community Dental and Oral Epidemiology.

A growing number of elderly Australians are now living in residential aged care facilities and are commonly dependent on others for daily oral hygiene care and often display high levels of plaque and calculus, researchers at the University of Melbourne’s School of Dental Science reported.

The researchers set out to determine the capability of a dental hygienist to undertake dental exams of residents at aged care facilities, devise preventive treatment plans, and refer patients appropriately to a dentist.

They examined 510 residents from 31 Victorian residential aged care facilities, including 275 residents who required dentures, between May 2005 and June the following year. The residents were examined by a single experienced dental epidemiologist and one of four dental hygienists using a plane mouth mirror and periodontal probe.

Researchers found the treatment needs of the residents examined were high, with nearly all of the 275 residents requiring dentures and to undergo preventive treatment, and three-quarters requiring referral to a dentist.

“Dental hygienists have the skills and knowledge necessary for undertaking a dental examination for residents, correctly identifying the majority of residents who require a referral to a dentist [and] are capable of formulating appropriate dental hygiene treatment plans for residents of aged care facilities,” the study indicated.

Researchers also claimed there should be greater utilisation of hygienists in the provision of dental care to residents of aged care facilities, as “a safe, efficient and effective use of health resources”.

An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report released yesterday (Wednesday, 10 August 2011), revealed capital cities continue to have more dentists per head of population than other areas. There were increases in dentist numbers occurring only in major cities, with numbers decreasing in inner regional areas.

The report, Dentists, specialists and allied practitioners: the Australian dental labour force, showed there were about 10,400 practising dentists in Australia, with four-fifths working in the private sector; with only about 1,300 practising dentists considered dental specialists.

The report also found dentists tend to work fewer hours each week; down from 39.2 hours in 2000 to 38.5 in 2006.

“This is likely to be due to a combination of the ageing of the dental labour force and the increasing proportion of women in the labour force; older dentists tend to work shorter hours and female dentists are more likely to work part-time,’ AIHW spokeswoman, Dana Teusner, said.

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