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Updated: Nov 9, 2025
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Family nurses, oral hygiene, and educational implications: a cross-sectional study
Pablo Varela-Centelles1, Rosendo Bugarín-González, Andrés Blanco-Hortas
1C.S. Praza do Ferrol, Praza Ferrol 11, 27001 Lugo, Spain. pabloignacio.varela@usc.es.
Objective:
To describe family nurses self-reported oral hygiene practices and to compare them with those of their potential patients in a public, free, and universal primary healthcare system.
Material And Methods:
Cross-sectional study using an anonymous questionnaire applied to randomly selected participants and their family nurses.
Results:
A total of 1,394 people entered the study (1,326 laypersons, 66 nurses). Not all nurses reported to brush their teeth daily. Daily interdental cleaning scored percentages lower than mouthwashes. Devices like oral irrigators or tongue scrappers were not used by family nurses.
Conclusions:
Nurses' oral self-care routines are similar to those of university graduates, with poor reported interdental cleaning. Oral health promotion activities may contribute to nurse's oral health and could have a positive effect on their patients.
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