Oral health status assessment: Preparing pre-service nursing students for the CHO role in India

India is home to one-third of global oral cancers. There is a substantial unmet need for oral health services in India but there is a workforce shortage. Recently, the Community Health Officer (CHO) is assigned the responsibility of screening, symptomatic management, and appropriate referral of patients with oral problems.

This study aimed to assess the reliability of nurses' oral health assessment and describe the oral health status of housekeeping staff of a tertiary health centre in Bhopal.

A cross-sectional survey was held among 308 housekeeping staff, selected through simple random sampling, at a tertiary care hospital in Bhopal in March 2023. Five nursing interns were trained in oral health assessment. With due attention to ethical considerations, data were collected using the Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT).

The intra-class coefficient (nursing interns and the dentist) of the OHAT was 0.865 (P < 0.001). Dental pain (32.1%) was the primary complaint, and 71.4% had no history of substance use. About 91.2% of the participants rinsed their mouths after meals, 56.5% brushed their teeth at least once daily, and 72.1% never visited a dentist. The findings revealed that none of the participants had "good oral health" status. The unhealthy oral status was in oral cleanliness (42.5%) and gum and tissue (29.5%).

The involvement of trained nurses in oral health screening can reduce the oral disease burden in India. Use of CHO training modules on oral care should be made mandatory reference material for undergraduate nursing programme in India.