Continuous Professional Oral Health Care Intervention Improves Severe Aspiration Pneumonia

Relationship between weight loss and regular dental management of older adults residing in long-term care facilities: a 1-year multicenter longitudinal study

PURPOSE

This study aimed to determine the association between home visits by a dentist and regular oral hygiene management by a dental hygienist (regular dental management: RDM) and weight loss among older adults in long-term care facilities.

METHODS

A total of 468 older residents from 26 Japanese long-term care facilities participated in two surveys in 2018 and 2019. Participants were divided into two groups based on their diet during the baseline survey (regular diet, n = 256; dysphagia diet, n = 212). Participants with a regular diet were further divided into those who exhibited a weight loss ≥ 5% over 1 year (weight loss group: n = 77) and those with a weight loss < 5% (consistent weight group: n = 179). The explanatory variables were age, sex, baseline weight, Barthel index, and clinical dementia rating, as well as the patients' medical history of pneumonia, stroke, diabetes, and depression (which is reportedly associated with weight). Additionally, a Poisson regression with robust standard error, was carried out to analyze the explanatory variables, namely the prevalence of RDM noted during the study and functional teeth (which seemed to affect weight loss).

RESULTS

A multivariate analysis revealed that older residents' lack of RDM, clinical dementia assessment, and their history of pneumonia (prevalence rate ratio: 0.35, 95% confidence interval 0.24-0.95) were all significantly associated with weight loss when on a regular diet.

CONCLUSION

Thus, weight loss and RDM were related to each other. Weight loss may be suppressed by incorporating RDMs during the early nursing care for older residents on regular diets.

Improvement of the Working Environment and Daily Work-Related Tasks of Dental Hygienists Working in Private Dental Offices from the Japan Dental Hygienists' Association Survey 2019

A dental hygienist performs various daily work-related tasks. The aim of this study was to elucidate the daily work-related tasks of Japanese dental hygienists and construct groups to understand the relationships between daily work-related tasks, the attractiveness of dental hygienist work, and the improvement of the working environment. The Japan Dental Hygienists’ Association has conducted a postal survey on the employment status of dental hygienists in Japan every five years since 1981. The data on the implementation of 74 daily work-related tasks in dental offices were analyzed from the survey carried out in 2019. The questionnaires were distributed to 16,722 dental hygienists and 8932 were returned (collection rate: 53.4%). The 3796 dental hygienists working at dental clinics were clearly classified into nine groups. Full-time workers requested a reduced workload. Part-time workers requested better treatment rather than reducing the workload. Salary and human relationships were common problems with the working environment. Full-time workers felt that job security was an attractive feature of the dental hygienist role. The data presented in this study may help with the improvement of working conditions for dental hygienists.