title: [The impact of frailty on the oral care behaviour and dental service use of elderly people].
abstract: In order to explore how the level of frailty and various frailty factors affect the dental service use and oral self-care behaviour of frail elderly people, 51 frail elderly people were interviewed. Additional information on age, gender, living situation, prosthetic status, self-reported health and oral health, chronic diseases and an index for frailty was collected. A thematic qualitative analysis of the collected data reveals that frail elders maintain long-established oral hygiene routines as long as possible to sustain a sense of self-worth. When burdened by severe health complaints they discontinue visits to the dentist first and oral hygiene routines subsequently. A loss of confidence in the results of dental service use, the trivializing of complaints and a diminishing sense of the importance of oral health play a role in these developments. Frail elderly people also experience psychological and social barriers to oral healthcare and dental service use when they are institutionalized.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Niesten
authors.forename: W J M
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: van der Sanden
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Gerritsen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016321:Dental Care for Aged / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000523:psychology*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D012648:Self Care; D012649:Self Concept