Article information
Year 2019 Volume 69 Issue 1 Page 19-28
Title:
Oral Health Status and Relationship between Oral Hygiene Care and Remaining Natural Tooth Status of Homebound Elderly
Keyword(s):
Home bound elderly, Oral health status, Oral hygiene care, Plaque level, Tongue coating
Abstract:
This study was a cross-sectional analytical study. The purposes were to study the oral health status, oral hygiene care as well as the association between oral hygiene care and the remaining natural tooth status in homebound elderly. The sample consisted of 110 homebound elderly (Barthel ADL 5 - 11 or ≥12 with limited movement) aged 60 years and over, lived in Hat Yai municipality, Songkhla province. The data were obtained via interviewing and oral examination. Statistical analysis included mean, frequency, Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test. The results showedThe average age was 76.6±9.3 years ranged from 60 to 102 years old. The results showed that 75.5 % of the samples had natural teeth with an average of 11.7±10.4 teeth/person, 35.5 % had occluded teeth at least 4 pairs. About 65 % of them had the site with the highest plaque level covered more than 2/3 of tooth surface and nearly 60% had the area with highest tongue coating level of 3 (heavy coating). The study found that remaining natural tooth status was significantly associated with oral hygiene cares on tooth/gum brushing, oral cleaning frequency and appropriate oral cleaning (p<0.05). From the study are concluded High proportion of this homebound elderly had concerned oral health problems and poor oral hygiene. In addition, remaining natural tooth status was associated with oral hygiene care of the elderly.