The Attitude of Nursing Staff Towards Oral Healthcare for Care-Dependent Older Adults (ANOCO) Questionnaire: Development and Validation.

Aims: This study aims to report on the development and validation of the Attitude of Nursing staff towards Oral healthcare for Care-dependent Older adults (ANOCO) questionnaire.

Methods: The development of the ANOCO questionnaire was performed in three stages between 2008 and 2019. In a first stage, domains related to oral healthcare attitudes were identified.

Implementing an oral health policy in long-term care facilities for older adults in Flanders, Belgium: The Oral Health Care Track.

Background: The oral health of care-dependent older people living in residential care facilities is generally suboptimal. To facilitate adequate daily oral care and timely referral to a dental professional, studies emphasise the need for sustainable, structured oral healthcare policies in aged care organisations. The effect of such interventions is often limited or uncertain owing to a lack of understanding of how effective the integration and implementation of the policy has been within the facilities.

Frailty as a determinant of dental attendance among community-dwelling older adults.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the association between different levels of frailty and dental attendance among home-dwelling older adults, in Belgium.

Background: While many determinants of dental attendance among older adults have been identified, no study has focused on the role of frailty.

Materials And Methods: This was a cross-sectional study on a random sample of home-dwelling adults aged 60 and over from two Belgian cities.

Perceptions on Oral Care Needs, Barriers, and Practices Among Managers and Staff in Long-Term Care Settings for Older People in Flanders, Belgium: A Cross-sectional Survey.

Background And Objectives: This study aimed to explore oral health perception and oral care needs, barriers, and current practices as perceived by managers and staff in long-term care organizations for older people in Flanders.

Research Design And Methods: This is a cross-sectional study where 2 questionnaires were developed, one for managers and one for caregivers, and were validated in Flemish long-term care organizations. Descriptive analyses and multivariable generalized linear models evaluated the main outcomes and their associations with determinants such as the size of the organization, the presence of an oral health policy, collaboration with a dentist, among others.

[The need for gerodontology in education and research].

The realisation that oral care for elder patients is very desirable and also necessary is only a few decades old. The earliest research was carried out in 1978. In the Netherlands and Flanders, research on oral care for the elderly began a few years later: the first doctoral degree in the field of gerodontology was awarded at the University of Nijmegen in 1989, after which more followed.

The influence of oral health status on speech intelligibility, articulation and quality of life of older community-dwelling people.

Objective: To investigate the impact of the oral health status on speech intelligibility, articulation and quality of life of older community-dwelling people.

Background: To our knowledge, there have been no studies on this topic in patients aged 75 years or older.

Material And Methods: Thirty outpatients of a university dental clinic (median [IQR] age of 77.

The impact of a prospective 4-year longitudinal school intervention for improving oral health and oral health inequalities in primary schoolchildren in Flanders-Belgium.

Background: Oral diseases and socio-economic inequalities in children are a persisting problem.

Aim: To investigate the 4-year longitudinal impact of an oral health promotion programme on oral health, knowledge, and socio-economic inequalities in primary schoolchildren.

Design: The intervention was carried out between 2010 and 2014 within a random sample of Flemish primary schoolchildren (born in 2002).

Social gradient in caries experience of Belgian adults 2010.

Objective: This study aims to explore the caries experience of the Belgian population in relation to social indicators.

Basic Research Design: Data collection (2009-2010) consisted of an oral health questionnaire and examination during a home visit.

Participants: Representative sample of the Belgian population (⟩5 years old).

The impact of a preventive and curative oral healthcare program on the prevalence and incidence of oral health problems in nursing home residents.

Aims: To assess the impact of an oral healthcare program in nursing homes on the initial treatment backlog and residents' oral health stability.

Materials And Methods: The study is a longitudinal cohort study in nursing home residents in Flanders, Belgium, to evaluate the oral healthcare programme Gerodent. The program consisted of: (1) the introduction of an oral healthcare team, (2) oral health education, (3) the implementation of oral health guidelines and protocols, and (4) regular visits of a mobile dental team.

Integrating community service learning in undergraduate dental education: A controlled trial in a residential facility for people with intellectual disabilities.

Aims: The present report describes an oral health promotion project in a residential facility for people with intellectual disabilities as a strategy to implement community service learning in undergraduate dental education.

Methods And Results: Two undergraduate students developed a project aimed to improve the oral health in residents with intellectual disabilities by educating caregivers. The impact was investigated by a pretest-posttest design, evaluating residents' plaque and gingival indexes and caregivers' knowledge, behavior, attitude, and self-efficacy.

Accessibility to oral health care for people on social assistance: a survey of social service providers from Public Welfare Centers in Flanders.

Objectives: The goals of the present study were as follows: (i) to explore the characteristics of the Flemish Public Centers for Social Welfare (PCSW) concerning oral health care; (ii) to explore possible barriers experienced by people on social assistance and oral health-care providers; and (iii) to explore the accessibility of general and oral health care for people on social assistance.

Methods: The data of this cross-sectional study were obtained by a survey of social service providers working in a PCSW. For this purpose, a new questionnaire was developed.

Dentists' opinions on knowledge, attitudes and barriers in providing oral health care to older people living independently in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium).

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate how dentists in the Netherlands and Flanders assessed their knowledge on oral health care to older people, what their attitude was and what barriers they experienced in rendering care to older people.

Methods: The survey data was collected from a random sample of Dutch and Flemish dentists. Five hundred ninety-five dentists (37%) of the Dutch sample and 494 dentists of the Flemish sample (41%) completed the online questionnaire.

The oral health condition and treatment needs assessment of nursing home residents in Flanders (Belgium).

Objectives: A study was conducted of nursing home residents with limited access to regular oral health care services to evaluate their oral health status, to perform an assessment of the need for oral treatment and to determine the possible predicting value of age, gender, care dependency and income level on their oral health status and treatment needs.

Materials And Methods: Three experienced dentists collected clinical oral health data with a mobile dental unit in 23 nursing homes. Socio-demographic data were extracted from the residents' records in the nursing home.

Medication Use and Its Potential Impact on the Oral Health Status of Nursing Home Residents in Flanders (Belgium).

Background: Polypharmacy is considered the most important etiologic factor of hyposalivation, which in turn can initiate oral health problems.

Objectives: To describe the medication use of nursing home residents, to identify the medications related to hyposalivation and to find possible associations between the different classes of medication, the number of medications, and the oral health status of the residents.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Socioeconomic inequalities in caries experience, care level and dental attendance in primary school children in Belgium: a cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: Oral health inequality in children is a widespread and well-documented problem in oral healthcare. However, objective and reliable methods to determine these inequalities in all oral health aspects, including both dental attendance and oral health, are rather scarce.

Aims: To explore oral health inequalities and to assess the impact of socioeconomic factors on oral health, oral health behaviour and dental compliance of primary school children.

Effect of an oral healthcare programme on care staff knowledge and attitude regarding oral health: a non-randomised intervention trial.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of an oral healthcare programme in nursing homes on care staff knowledge and attitude regarding oral health.

Methods: The study sample consisted of the nurses and nurses' aides from 63 nursing homes, which either received an oral healthcare programme including mobile dental care or were on a waiting list to receive this programme. A validated questionnaire completed at baseline and again after the study period assessed the care staff knowledge and attitude.

An oral health survey of vulnerable older people in Belgium.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to gain insight in the oral health of persons aged 65 years or more.

Materials And Methods: Data were obtained from 652 vulnerable older persons (≥65) by means of a clinical oral examination. Additional demographic data were gathered including age, gender, residence, and care dependency.

A pilot assessment tool of the need for oral health care and cost prediction in institutionalized elderly people.

Objective: To assess the dental treatment backlog and associated costs among institutionalized elderly people using a novel composite index, called the oral health index.

Background: Despite numerous reports about oral health of old individuals, there is still lack of a systematic and practical method to estimate their treatment need covering all relevant aspects of oral health. In addition, little has been published on associated treatment costs and prediction of such costs.

Effect of an oral healthcare protocol in nursing homes on care staffs' knowledge and attitude towards oral health care: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To explore the impact of a supervised implementation of an oral healthcare protocol, in addition to education, on nurses' and nurses' aides' oral health-related knowledge and attitude.

Materials And Methods: A random sample of 12 nursing homes, accommodating a total of 120-150 residents, was obtained using stratified cluster sampling with replacement. The intervention included the implementation of an oral healthcare protocol and three different educational stages.

Opinions of dentists on the barriers in providing oral health care to community-dwelling frail older people: a questionnaire survey.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent dentists in the Netherlands experience barriers in providing oral health care to community-dwelling older people.

Background: As most publications on the barriers in providing oral health care to older people consist of surveys on oral health care in care homes, it was decided to investigate the barriers dentists experience in their own dental practices while providing oral health care to community-dwelling frail older people.

Material And Methods: A representative sample of 1592 of the approximately 8000 dentists in the Netherlands aged 64 or younger were invited to respond to a questionnaire online.

Risk of aspiration in care home residents and associated factors.

Pneumonia is a prevalent cause of death in care home residents. Dysphagia is a significant risk factor of aspiration pneumonia. The purpose of the current study was to screen for risk of aspiration in care home residents in the Netherlands and assess potential risk factors of aspiration.

Poor oral health, a potential new geriatric syndrome.

This article presents a brief introduction to the medical aspects of ageing and age-related diseases, and to some geriatric syndromes, followed by a discussion on their impact on general and oral healthcare provision to community-dwelling older people. Recent investigations suggest that inflammation constitutes a biological foundation of ageing and the onset of age-related diseases. Multimorbidity and polypharmacy, together with alterations in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, make older people at risk of adverse medication reactions.

Subjective dysphagia in older care home residents: a cross-sectional, multi-centre point prevalence measurement.

Background: Dysphagia has been found to be strongly associated with aspiration pneumonia in frail older people. Aspiration pneumonia is causing high hospitalization rates, morbidity, and often death. Better insight in the prevalence of (subjective) dysphagia in frail older people may improve its early recognition and treatment.

Effect of oral healthcare education on knowledge, attitude and skills of care home nurses: a systematic literature review.

Objectives: To systematically review the literature on the effect of providing oral healthcare education to care home nurses on their oral healthcare knowledge and attitude and their oral hygiene care skills.

Methods: A literature search was obtained for relevant articles on oral healthcare education of nurses in care homes, using five electronic retrieval systems and databases. The search was limited to human studies, articles published in English and articles published during the period January 1990 to December 2011.

The integration of oral health care into day-to-day care in nursing homes: a qualitative study.

Objective: This qualitative study explored barriers and enabling factors to the implementation of an oral hygiene protocol in nursing homes.

Background: Oral health care in nursing homes in Flanders (Belgium) is inadequate.

Materials And Methods: Qualitative data were obtained from nurses employed in 13 nursing homes involved in two randomised controlled trials in Flanders-Belgium.