Abstract
BackgroundThe presence of implants is a significant burden not only for dentists but also for caregivers and families of elderly individuals requiring nursing and domiciliary dental care. However, few reports have assessed the status of domiciliary dental care or measures employed to deal with related issues. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the dental implant status in elderly patients requiring nursing and domiciliary dental care and to determine the suitable measures for overcoming the associated limitations. A questionnaire was mailed to 1000 dentists who provided domiciliary dental care in the Tokyo metropolitan area of Japan. The questions were classified into three categories: basic information of the dentists, actual implant status of patients requiring domiciliary dental care, and implants in an aging society.ResultsThe response rate was 36.5%. Approximately 2% of patients requiring domiciliary dental care were implant patients. Many implant-related problems were associated with insufficiency or difficulty in cleaning around the implant, resulting in peri-implantitis. Prosthetic and more serious complications such as implant body fracture or loss were reported and frequently managed by routine follow-ups, cleaning the area around the implant, scaling and polishing, and/or pharmacological modalities. Oral care mainly involved simple toothbrushing instructions, which was not adequate.ConclusionsOur findings suggest the necessity of simplifying the oral environment and making oral care a simple task before aging individuals require nursing and domiciliary dental care.
Highlights
The presence of implants is a significant burden for dentists and for caregivers and families of elderly individuals requiring nursing and domiciliary dental care
Six types of facilities were visited for domiciliary dental care: patients’ homes, special nursing home for the elderly (SNHs), long-term care health facilities (LCHFs), private nursing homes for the elderly (PNHs), hospitals, and day care services (DCSs) for individuals with dementia
Implant patients accounted for 2% of the total number of patients receiving domiciliary dental care
Summary
The presence of implants is a significant burden for dentists and for caregivers and families of elderly individuals requiring nursing and domiciliary dental care. Common reasons for the need of care at home or facilities for elderly individuals include advanced age, cerebrovascular disease, and dementia. These conditions affect the quality of oral care provided to patients and their general health [4,5,6,7]. There is an increase in the need for domiciliary dental care [11,12,13] whereby dentists or dental hygienists provide dental treatment and specialized oral care by visiting the homes, care facilities, or hospitals of patients who cannot visit dental clinics for physical or psychological reasons. Global awareness about domiciliary dental care is inadequate, and the system differs according to the medical insurance system, number of dentists, geographical requirements, and patient populations in different countries and regions [11,12,13]
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