Module 10: Oral Health - Providing Dental Care for Older Adults in LTC
Module 10 addresses:
1) Why dental health promotes overall health and quality of life;
2) The potential benefits to nursing care delivery when daily dental care is maintained;
3) Plaque bacteria and how prevention can protect the mouth from damage caused by plaque;
4) Ways to control plaque in older persons that are functionally dependent and cognitively impaired;
5) Visible dental problems that should be reported to the nurse or other healthcare provider who might refer to the dentist.
Providing Dental Care for Older Adults in Long Term Care
Written by:
Ann Slaughter, DDS, MPH
Assistant Professor
Course Director, Geriatric Dentistry
University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Reviewed in early 2014 by:
Erin Knoepfel MS, CCC-SLP, BRS-S
Director of Clinical Services - Speech Language Pathology Board Recognized Specialist in Swallowing & Swallowing Disorders Genesis Rehab Services
Garry Pezzano, MS, CCC-SLP
Senior Vice President of Clinical Care, Genesis Rehab
This presentation is designed to educate non-dental health care providers, particularly direct care staff in the provision of mouth care for older persons residing in long-term care facilities. Dental health is important because dental disease and mouth problems are common in the nursing home and homebound population. The mouth has been called a mirror of health and disease because there you find signs of systemic diseases, microbial infections, and nutritional deficiencies.
Oral health and general health
should not be thought of as being separate. Cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, malnutrition, stroke and pneumonia are common conditions in
many of the patients you care for. Poor oral health can make these
medical problems worse because of the increased bacteria in the mouth
that spread to other systems of the body. And because of their
compromised medical health, older adults in long term care are more at
risk for infections. Good oral health is important and contributes to
keeping older persons as healthy as possible. Dental health is not only
related to physical health, but also oral health is related to
well-being and quality of life.
The teaching materials for this module include a PowerPoint presentation that
contains notes for the speaker. These notes provide additional information so
that the speaker can ellaborate on each concept presented within the
PowerPoint.
If you would like to create handouts from the PowerPoint file
for your attendees and do not know how, please visit the following link:
How
to Create Handouts for Attendees from PowerPoint
If you would like to create a printout of the slides that also contains the notes for the instructor, please visit the following link:
How
to Create Notes Pages for Presenters in PowerPoint
Please note that
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Teaching Materials:
Generic module files:
Module-specific files:
Module 10: Oral Health: Instructor's PowerPoint Slides with Speaker's Notes
Module 10: Oral Health: Evaluation of Module