Oral health intervention among community-dwelling older people: a randomised 2-year intervention study.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a 2-year oral-health-promoting intervention on oral health behaviour and oral health among people aged 75 years or older. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a 2-year randomised intervention study, 279 community-dwelling older people completed the study 145 persons in an intervention group and 134 in a control group. Interviews and clinical oral examinations were performed at the beginning of the study and at a 2-year follow-up. Changes in oral health behaviour and oral health were used as outcomes. INTERVENTION Oral health intervention included individually tailored instructions for oral and/or denture hygiene, relief of dry mouth symptoms, decrease of sugar-use frequency, use of fluoride, xylitol or antimicrobial products, and professional tooth cleaning. RESULTS: More participants in both the intervention and control groups had better dental and denture hygiene and were free of oral diseases or symptoms at the 2-year follow-up than at the baseline. The differences in changes in outcomes between the intervention and control groups were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that oral health of community-dwelling older people could be improved. Oral health improved in both groups, more among the participants in the intervention group compared with control group, but the effect attributed to oral-health-promoting intervention remained small.