Prevalence of oral hygiene tools amongst hospitalised elders: A cross‐sectional survey

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of various oral hygiene tools amongst hospitalised elders and to associate their cognitive status with the prevalence of tools and oral hygiene status. MATERIALS AND METHOD Elderly hospitalised participants were included in the study and underwent a brief clinical intra-oral examination. A semi-structured questionnaire evaluated the awareness and personal possession of the various oral hygiene tools. Participants' personal information and various clinical parameters including DMF (T) index, plaque index, CPITN index, denture plaque and calculus index were collected. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores were retrieved from the medical records. Linear regression models were applied for statistical analyses (P < 0.05). RESULTS A total of 100 hospitalised elders (age = 84.5 ± 6.9 years; ♀ = 72, age = 84.9 ± 7.2 years; ♂ = 28, age = 83.3 ± 5.8 years) participated in this study. Awareness was high for manual toothbrush (100%), electric toothbrush (86%), dental floss (79%), interdental brush (44%), interdental stick (55%) and mouthwash (75%), but was low for tongue scraper (9%), while the prevalence of use was 93%, 17%, 27%, 21%, 29%, 39% and 4%, respectively. Linear regression models revealed plaque scores were lower when more hygiene tools were used by the participants (P = 0.0059). Participants with high MMSE scores had lower plaque scores (P = 0.0004) and possessed more oral hygiene tools (P = 0.0203). CONCLUSION Poor oral hygiene is often noticed in institutionalised elders and might be related to a lack of knowledge about existing oral hygiene tools. These may help optimising oral hygiene, especially in cognitively impaired elders. Oral hygiene tools should be prescribed according to the patient's need, functional and cognitive status

Bioenergetic state regulates innate inflammatory responses through the transcriptional co-repressor CtBP

Several metabolic factors affect cellular glucose metabolism as well as the innate inflammatory response. Here, the authors show that glucose metabolism regulates pro-inflammatory responses through effects on the cytosolic NADH:NAD+ ratio and the NAD(H)-sensitive transcription co-repressor CtBP

Oral health and orofacial pain in older people with dementia: a systematic review with focus on dental hard tissues

Objective: The aim of this review was to provide a systematic overview including a quality assessment of studies about oral health and orofacial pain in older people with dementia, compared to older people without dementia. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library. The following search terms were used: dementia and oral health or stomatognathic disease. The quality assessment of the included articles was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Results: The search yielded 527 articles, of which 37 were included for the quality assessment and quantitative overview. The median NOS score of the included studies was 5, and the mean was 4.9 (SD 2.2). The heterogeneity between the studies was considered too large to perform a meta-analysis. An equivalent prevalence of orofacial pain, number of teeth present, decayed missing filled teeth index, edentulousness percentage, and denture use was found for both groups. However, the presence of caries and retained roots was higher in older people with dementia than in those without. Conclusions: Older people with dementia have worse oral health, with more retained roots and coronal and root caries, when compared to older people without dementia. Little research focused on orofacial pain in older people with dementia. Clinical relevance: The current state of oral health in older people with dementia could be improved with oral care education of caretakers and regular professional dental care