Keep My Teeth: An evaluation of multi-disciplinary training in mouth care for people with intellectual developmental disorders.

Abstract

To evaluate a modular didactic training intervention called Keep My Teeth designed by special care dentists, for a range of healthcare students to provide oral homecare for people with intellectual developmental disorders (PwIDD). To evaluate the intervention a one-group pre-test post-test pre-experimental research design was utilized. The intervention was delivered by virtual platforms or face-to-face, with a sub-sample of participants also receiving practical training. Healthcare students included Speech and Language Therapy (SLT), Registered Nurse Intellectual Disability (RNID), Dental Science (DS), Dental Nursing (DN), and Dental Hygiene (DH). Sixty-three of the 147 trainees completed all surveys. A significant change in perspective on barriers was seen for most groups post-training, with an increase in confidence in delivering oral care to PwIDD across disciplines; 67% of DH/DN students who took part in the practical training felt that the didactic training was just as effective without the practical training, while 42% of the DS students felt that was true. The training interventions provided seem to have increased the awareness of study participants in relation to barriers to care, and increased their self-efficacy towards, and intention to perform,oral homecare behaviors.