title: Oral health in institutionalised elderly people in Oslo, Norway and its relationship with dependence and cognitive impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Investigating oral health's relationship with dependency and cognitive state.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Oral hygiene is poor in the institutionalised elderly. There are problems regarding the oral care of residents having poor mobility or cognitive impairment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study involving 135 participants (mean age 85.7, SD 8.8 years) in two categories: nurses doing tooth cleaning and residents doing tooth cleaning. Those cleaned by nurses were categorised as co-operative or unco-operative. The oral hygiene status, presence of caries, retained roots and denture-related stomatitis were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the participants, 70% had only natural teeth. The prevalence of caries was 28%. A significant correlation showed that having more teeth gave a poorer Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) (p = 0.018). The number of retained roots increased with the severity of cognitive impairment (p < 0.05). Significant differences were found between nurses or residents doing the tooth cleaning on the OHI-S (p = 0.05) and percentage of dental plaque (p = 0.003). Unco-operative residents had poorer oral hygiene (p = 0.028), more caries (p = 0.008) and were more often moderate-severe cognitive impaired (p = 0.016).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high percentage of participants had unacceptable oral hygiene. Residents whose teeth were cleaned by the nurses had poorer oral hygiene. Unco-operative residents had the worst oral hygiene and more caries.
authors.affiliation: Oral Health Department, Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. djmarinz@unal.edu.co
authors.forename: Dairo J Marín
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Zuluaga
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: José A Gil
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Montoya
authors.forename: Tiril
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Willumsen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000453:epidemiology; D003778:Dentures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D009735:Nursing Homes; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000451:nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009911:Oral Hygiene Index; D015995:Prevalence; D017213:Root Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D012648:Self Care; D013282:Stomatitis, Denture / Q000453:epidemiology; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000473:pathology