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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.