Characterization of oral health status among the institutionalized elderly in a district capital of the central region of Portugal

Introduction: In the elderly population, oral health is often neglected due to poor oral health literacy. It is fundamental to promote adequate oral health behaviors among the elderly and their caregivers to improve oral hygiene and permit a decrease in the risk of oral and systemic pathology development. Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterize oral health behaviors and the oral rehabilitation status of the institutionalized elderly that live permanently in nursing homes in a district capital in the central region of Portugal. Materials and Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was designed, and data collection performed in nursing homes and daycare centers of Viseu, Portugal. The study was carried out based on a convenience sample consisting of 529 patients living in 5 nursing homes of Viseu, Portugal. The data collection was accomplished using the following instruments and methods: two customized questionnaires to assess systemic / oral health and the elderly oral rehabilitation and the intraoral clinical assessment following WHO standardized methodology. Results: Regarding oral hygiene habits, 81.2% of the elderly accomplish their daily oral hygiene. Also, 44.0% had no teeth in their oral cavity (47.2% women vs 36.3% men, p=0.044). 70.5% confirm having pain and 64.0% of the elderly complains of having chewing difficulties. Regarding the use of dental prosthesis, it was observed that 63.2% of the elderly had dental prothesis (mostly conventional complete dentures) and the remaining 36.8% do not use them, even when they have clinical indication to use. It was found that 84.1% of the participants felt better when placing their dental prosthesis during the day. Considering the prosthetic night rest, it was observed that 57.7% of the participants removed their dental prosthesis at night, with significant statistical differences among gender: 63.7% in the group of women and only 38.3% of the men (p=0.001). Conclusions This research demonstrated that nearly one third of the sample do not have a dental prosthesis which is essential to allow better chewing function capacity. Also, oral health behaviors need to be improved and better implemented in nursing homes, namely, prosthetic night rest, daily oral hygiene and more frequent oral health treatment to decrease orofacial pain. Therefore, it is important to continue to develop strategies and join efforts to improve oral health and, consequently, systemic health of institutionalized elderly.