Oral health status and needs for dental treatment in geriatric patients in a Danish district hospital.
Oral health status and dental treatment needs were investigated in 50 randomly selected patients in the geriatric department of a Danish district hospital. All the participants were examined clinically and radiologically. Oral health status was generally poor. Ten participants required no dental treatment. The remaining 40 participants needed some kind of treatment, mainly prosthetic and surgical. The 40 participants requiring treatment were all asked whether or not they wanted the proposed treatment. Only 18 were interested. The participants were divided into three groups according to their medical status. 28 participants had a poor medical status. It was estimated that these patients once having left the hospital would never be able to visit a dentist on their own initiative, and therefore should be treated institutionally.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003718:Denmark; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006760:Hospitalization; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D009909:Oral Health; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology