Preventive measures and perceived challenges in delivering oral health care for elderly patients: a survey of dental hygienists in Norway
Objective: This study aimed to gain knowledge of general oral health preventive measures with a specific focus on root caries preventive measures for patients ≥65 years old, performed by Norwegian dental hygienists in public and private dental health services. A secondary aim was to investigate dif...
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| Language: | English |
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Medical Journals Sweden
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Acta Odontologica Scandinavica |
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| Online Access: | https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actaodontologica/article/view/42581 |
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| author | Anne Breivik Simen E. Kopperud Qalbi Khan Aida Mulic Linda Stein |
| author_facet | Anne Breivik Simen E. Kopperud Qalbi Khan Aida Mulic Linda Stein |
| author_sort | Anne Breivik |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Objective: This study aimed to gain knowledge of general oral health preventive measures with a specific focus on root caries preventive measures for patients ≥65 years old, performed by Norwegian dental hygienists in public and private dental health services. A secondary aim was to investigate differences and challenges in prevention practices.
Materials and methods: An electronic survey was conducted among the sample in 2022. A total of 365 dental hygienists were included in the analyses. Chi-square tests were used to analyze differences between private and public dental hygienists regarding preventive measures and perceived challenges.
Results: The most frequently reported general oral health preventive measures were oral hygiene instruction, professional tooth cleaning and scaling. Oral hygiene instruction and application of fluoride varnish were the most performed root caries preventive measure, and reduced manual dexterity in patients was the most perceived challenge. Public dental hygienists perceived challenges to a greater extent than private dental hygienists, particularly related to reduced mobility and ergonomic difficulties in patients.
Conclusion: This study confirms dental hygienists’ important role in oral health promotion and showed that Norwegian dental hygienists performed a wide range of preventive measures for patients ≥65 years old. However, a number of challenges were identified in the preventive work.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c82c7220efff4adab2480cb8b7f92037 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0001-6357 1502-3850 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Medical Journals Sweden |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Odontologica Scandinavica |
| spelling | doaj-art-c82c7220efff4adab2480cb8b7f920372025-01-06T16:30:24ZengMedical Journals SwedenActa Odontologica Scandinavica0001-63571502-38502025-01-018410.2340/aos.v84.42581Preventive measures and perceived challenges in delivering oral health care for elderly patients: a survey of dental hygienists in NorwayAnne Breivik0https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9955-3528Simen E. Kopperud1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4689-4452Qalbi Khan2https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8250-9621Aida Mulic3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3784-7278Linda Stein4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5401-7463Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Science, Elverum, NorwayNordic Institute of Dental Material (NIOM), Oslo, Norway; Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayFaculty of Social and Health Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Science, Elverum, Norway; Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayNordic Institute of Dental Material (NIOM), Oslo, Norway; The Artic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayThe Artic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway Objective: This study aimed to gain knowledge of general oral health preventive measures with a specific focus on root caries preventive measures for patients ≥65 years old, performed by Norwegian dental hygienists in public and private dental health services. A secondary aim was to investigate differences and challenges in prevention practices. Materials and methods: An electronic survey was conducted among the sample in 2022. A total of 365 dental hygienists were included in the analyses. Chi-square tests were used to analyze differences between private and public dental hygienists regarding preventive measures and perceived challenges. Results: The most frequently reported general oral health preventive measures were oral hygiene instruction, professional tooth cleaning and scaling. Oral hygiene instruction and application of fluoride varnish were the most performed root caries preventive measure, and reduced manual dexterity in patients was the most perceived challenge. Public dental hygienists perceived challenges to a greater extent than private dental hygienists, particularly related to reduced mobility and ergonomic difficulties in patients. Conclusion: This study confirms dental hygienists’ important role in oral health promotion and showed that Norwegian dental hygienists performed a wide range of preventive measures for patients ≥65 years old. However, a number of challenges were identified in the preventive work. https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actaodontologica/article/view/42581Preventive measuresoral healthroot carieselderly patientsdental hygienists |
| spellingShingle | Anne Breivik Simen E. Kopperud Qalbi Khan Aida Mulic Linda Stein Preventive measures and perceived challenges in delivering oral health care for elderly patients: a survey of dental hygienists in Norway Acta Odontologica Scandinavica Preventive measures oral health root caries elderly patients dental hygienists |
| title | Preventive measures and perceived challenges in delivering oral health care for elderly patients: a survey of dental hygienists in Norway |
| title_full | Preventive measures and perceived challenges in delivering oral health care for elderly patients: a survey of dental hygienists in Norway |
| title_fullStr | Preventive measures and perceived challenges in delivering oral health care for elderly patients: a survey of dental hygienists in Norway |
| title_full_unstemmed | Preventive measures and perceived challenges in delivering oral health care for elderly patients: a survey of dental hygienists in Norway |
| title_short | Preventive measures and perceived challenges in delivering oral health care for elderly patients: a survey of dental hygienists in Norway |
| title_sort | preventive measures and perceived challenges in delivering oral health care for elderly patients a survey of dental hygienists in norway |
| topic | Preventive measures oral health root caries elderly patients dental hygienists |
| url | https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actaodontologica/article/view/42581 |
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