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Oral health of persons with and without dementia attending a geriatric clinic
Author(s) -
Warren John J.,
Chalmers Jane M.,
Levy Steven M.,
Blanco Valerie L.,
Ettinger Ronald L.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
special care in dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.328
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1754-4505
pISSN - 0275-1879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1754-4505.1997.tb00866.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dementia , oral hygiene , oral health , categorization , cognitive impairment , gerontology , psychiatry , cognition , family medicine , disease , dentistry , philosophy , pathology , epistemology
This study of 230 hospital geriatric clinic patients compared the oral health of individuals with dementias with that of persons with no dementing illnesses. Data collected included dental examinations, subject questionnaires and review of hospital records. There were kw differences among groups of patients based on categorization into groups of those diagnosed with (1) no dementia, (2) dementia of the Alzheimer's type, and (3) other dementias. However, there were significant differences based on degree of cognitive impairment regardless of dementia diagnosis. Those with severe dementia had poorer gingival health and oral hygiene, but better self‐perceived mouth health. There are numerous limitations and inherent dimculties in studies involving persons with dementia, and overcoming these in the future will likely require long‐term, interdisciplinary approaches.