title: Oral health status of older people living in care homes in Wales.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  UK adult dental health surveys (ADHS) exclude care home residents from sampling. Aim To understand oral health status of care home residents in Wales using ADHS criteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross sectional survey of care home residents in Wales using a questionnaire and oral examination contemporaneous with, and paralleling, the ADHS 2009. 708 randomly selected participants from 213 randomly selected care homes participated including individuals with and without capacity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  72.8% of residents had tooth decay. Compared to older adults examined in the ADHS, residents are less likely to brush teeth/dentures twice a day (37% vs 63%), more likely to only attend a dentist when they have a problem (63% vs 26%), have more teeth with active decay (3.1 vs 0.9), more have current dental pain (13% vs 5%) and other morbidity (open pulp, ulceration, fistulae, abscess 27% vs 10%). High decay is present in both recently admitted and longer term residents. There was some regional variation in levels of oral hygiene.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral health status of older people resident in care homes in Wales is poor. Findings suggest more could be done to improve preventive care both before and after admission to the care home.
authors.affiliation: Dental Public Health, Public Health Wales, Temple of Peace and Health, Cardiff, CF10 3NW.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Karki
authors.affiliation: Dental Public Health, Public Health Wales, Temple of Peace and Health, Cardiff, CF10 3NW.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Monaghan
authors.affiliation: Welsh Oral Health Information Unit, Cardiff University School of Dentistry, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XY.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morgan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D016321:Dental Care for Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D003945:Diagnosis, Oral; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014852:Wales / Q000453:epidemiology