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Impact of dental care on oral health‐related quality of life and treatment goals among elderly adults
Author(s) -
Gagliardi DI,
Slade GD,
Sanders AE
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/j.1834-7819.2007.00005.x
Subject(s) - medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , oral health , intervention (counseling) , health care , dental care , educational attainment , physical therapy , young adult , gerontology , family medicine , nursing , economics , economic growth
Background: General dental care can effectively control disease and restore damaged tissue, yet little is known about its impact on patients’ subjective oral health, namely treatment goals and oral health‐related quality of life (OHRQoL). This study aimed to evaluate change in both aspects of subjective oral health among elderly adults receiving publicly‐funded, general dental care. Methods: We conducted a prospective, single‐group intervention study of adults aged 75+ years receiving care through the South Australian Dental Service (SADS). Before receiving dental care, subjects completed the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP‐14) questionnaire which evaluates OHRQoL. In this questionnaire, subjects rated the extent to which they had attained a self‐nominated oral health goal. Dentists provided standard‐of‐care treatment and six months later the OHIP‐14 and goal attainment questions were re‐administered. Results: Among the 253 adults studied, overall improvements in OHRQoL were observed (p < 0.05), although the effect was dependent on pre‐treatment goal: mean OHIP‐14 scores did not change significantly for subjects whose goal was less pain/discomfort while significant improvements were observed for subjects with other treatment goals. In contrast, mean goal attainment ratings improved significantly (P < 0.05), regardless of treatment goal categories. Conclusions: Dental care was associated with improvements in subjective oral health, although different patterns of improvement were observed for OHRQoL compared with goal attainment ratings.