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Healthcare
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Oral Health and Quality of Life in Older People
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Oral Health and Quality of Life in Older People

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Assessments".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 August 2025 | Viewed by 6149

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Matthew R. Nangle

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Interests: oral health; dentistry; aged care; geriatrics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to introduce a series of original and review articles on the recent advances in basic and clinical sciences impacting oral health in older people. In the last couple of decades, there has been an explosion in the literature linking poor oral health and systemic health conditions, with evidence pointing toward potentially bidirectional causative associations between dental decay and/or periodontal diseases with respiratory illness, cardiovascular diseases and stroke, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and more recently, cognitive decline and dementia risk. This Special Issue of Healthcare focuses on recent innovations in the use of telehealth (teledentistry) and silver fluoride therapies to assess and address oral disease in the elderly and infirm, as well as reviewing recent literature on oral health and quality of life in older people.

Dr. Matthew R. Nangle
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • telehealth and teledentistry
  • silver fluoride
  • oral-health related quality of life

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 1227 KiB  
Article
Oral Health-Related Quality of Life After Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant—A Cross-Sectional Study
by Nina Vovk, Manca Urek, Ksenija Cankar and Lidija Nemeth
Healthcare 2025, 13(5), 561; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13050561 - 5 Mar 2025
Viewed by 584
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the oral health-related quality of life of patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease. Methods: A total of 22 patients with graft-versus-host disease aged 45.05 ± 14.66 years were enrolled in a single-centre cross-sectional [...] Read more.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the oral health-related quality of life of patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease. Methods: A total of 22 patients with graft-versus-host disease aged 45.05 ± 14.66 years were enrolled in a single-centre cross-sectional study. Data from questionnaires on general health and diet, clinical examinations, and salivary tests were used to assess caries risks using the Cariogram computer programme. The Slovenian version of the Oral Health Impact Profile Questionnaire (OHIP-SVN) was used to determine the oral health-related quality of life. Results: Compared to healthy individuals, patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease had a lower oral health-related quality of life and a lower stimulated salivary flow rate (in both cases p < 0.001). The OHIP summary score correlated with stimulated salivary pH (R = 0.4916, p = 0.0277) and caries risk (R = 0.5420, p = 0.0111). Conclusions: In conclusion, our results confirm that cGVHD has a negative impact on oral health-related quality of life due to lower stimulated salivary pH and elevated caries risk (reduced salivary pH, flow rate, buffering capacity, and elevated Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus bacteria count). These findings emphasise the importance of a comprehensive assessment of oral health and preventive care in patients with cGVHD and suggest that the integration of clinical and quality of life measures could lead to improved patient care strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral Health and Quality of Life in Older People)
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18 pages, 1484 KiB  
Article
A Pilot Study to Assess the Feasibility of Real-Time Teledentistry in Residential Aged Care Facilities
by Cheuk Kee Candy Fung, Diep Hong Ha, Laurence James Walsh and Claudia Patricia Lopez Silva
Healthcare 2024, 12(22), 2216; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12222216 - 6 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1085
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Unmet oral health needs of residents in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) arise due to the unique challenges of assessing oral health statuses and maintaining oral healthcare in RACFs. This pilot study assessed the feasibility of using real-time teledentistry under the guidance [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Unmet oral health needs of residents in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) arise due to the unique challenges of assessing oral health statuses and maintaining oral healthcare in RACFs. This pilot study assessed the feasibility of using real-time teledentistry under the guidance of a dentist to train RACF staff to undertake an oral health assessment. Methods: An oral health assessment of residents was first conducted by RACF staff at two Queensland, Australia RACFs using the Oral Health Assessment Tool, with an intra-oral camera connected to a laptop, through videoconferencing, under the guidance of a dentist. A survey recorded the views of RACF staff on the acceptability of the teledentistry method. The quality of the images obtained through the camera was assessed by the dentist. Finally, cost-effectiveness was calculated between teledentistry and traditional face-to-face assessments. Results: Sixteen residents (mean age 79.3 ± 8.68 years) and eight staff (mean age 33.3 ± 6.16 years) participated in this study. Both RACF staff and residents found that the real-time teledentistry set-up was user-friendly, while the dentist rated the quality of the images as acceptable for diagnostic purposes. Real-time teledentistry was more cost-effective than bringing a dentist on-site, while taking the RACF residents to an off-site dental office for examination was the most expensive approach. Conclusions: Real-time teledentistry is feasible and cost-effective, and it is an acceptable alternative to a face-to-face clinical exam for oral health assessment in RACFs. This approach could be used in RACFs where wireless internet connectivity is available. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral Health and Quality of Life in Older People)
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12 pages, 662 KiB  
Article
Dentitions of Long-Term Care Residents: Tooth Types, Roles in Occlusion and Association with Dementia
by Jesse Tervonen, Lina Julkunen, Riitta K. T. Saarela, Kaija Hiltunen and Päivi Mäntylä
Healthcare 2024, 12(18), 1886; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12181886 - 20 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1141
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Many older adults living in long-term care (LTC) environments have varying numbers of retained natural teeth. The objective of this study was to assess the disease findings based on tooth type and estimate the role of tooth types in occlusion. Methods: We [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Many older adults living in long-term care (LTC) environments have varying numbers of retained natural teeth. The objective of this study was to assess the disease findings based on tooth type and estimate the role of tooth types in occlusion. Methods: We conducted clinical oral examinations of 276 LTC residents. The disease findings were analyzed for each tooth type and to determine their associations with dementia. Results: In total, 67.8% of the participants had molar teeth. Premolars/canines were often present as residual roots and had caries. Deepened periodontal pockets and higher plaque index (PI) values for molars had odds ratios of 2.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] of 1.59–3.91) and 1.61 (95% CI of 1.29–2.02), respectively. Participants with dementia were more likely to have incisors and premolars/canines in the form of root remnants and higher PI scores for all tooth types (p ≤ 0.01), as well as more deepened periodontal pockets in all teeth (p = 0.029), than those without dementia. The median number of remaining molars per participant was 3 out of a maximum of 12 (95% CI 3.4–4.0); thus, they often lacked occlusal contact. Conclusions: The LTC residents’ molars were more prone to periodontal problems, whereas their premolars/canines often had caries or were present in the form of root remnants, especially in the participants with dementia. People’s teeth should be treated in an easy-to-maintain way before they move into LTC to enable daily oral hygiene measures and maintain oral health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral Health and Quality of Life in Older People)
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10 pages, 232 KiB  
Study Protocol
Modified Oral Health Assessment Tool (M-OHAT) for Residential Aged Care: A Co-Design Protocol
by Laura J. Ferris, Kristiana Ludlow, Nicole Walker, Andrew Georgiou, Julie D. Henry, Claudia Lopez Silva, Diep H. Ha, Nicole Stormon, Laurence J. Walsh, Saso Ivanovski, Christopher Sexton, Helena Silveira Schuch, Haitham Tuffaha, Angelique Zamora, Lyndal Pritchard and Loc G. Do
Healthcare 2024, 12(19), 1953; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12191953 - 30 Sep 2024
Viewed by 2682
Abstract
Background: Older adults in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) experience disproportionate levels of poor oral health relative to other groups in the general population, affecting their physical and mental wellbeing. The Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) is a validated and widely used [...] Read more.
Background: Older adults in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) experience disproportionate levels of poor oral health relative to other groups in the general population, affecting their physical and mental wellbeing. The Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) is a validated and widely used dental assessment tool; however, recent systematic reviews have identified shortcomings with respect to its measurement properties. Objective: The objective of this protocol is to provide a detailed overview of a multidisciplinary qualitative study that aims to (a) co-design and develop a modified OHAT for RACFs and (b) inform the development of an OHAT training package and implementation strategies. Methods: This study will utilize a co-design methodology with aged care residents, caregivers, staff members, and health professionals. The co-design workshops will: (1) investigate the barriers to and enablers of optimal oral healthcare in RACFs; and (2) co-design a modified version of the Oral Health Assessment Tool and a referral to treatment pathway that is appropriate for use in RACFs. The co-design workshops will facilitate group discussion and involve interactive activities using, for example, mind mapping and Sticky Notes. Qualitative data (transcripts and artefacts from co-design activities) will be analyzed in NVivo using an inductive codebook thematic analysis, specifically a template analysis. Conclusion: The findings of this study will inform a modified OHAT (M-OHAT), as well as future study phases regarding training and implementation strategies. It is expected that the M-OHAT will have enhanced usability and relevance to RACFs, facilitating the identification of poor oral health and timely referral to dental treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral Health and Quality of Life in Older People)
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