Daily and Professional Oral Care in Long-Term Care Facilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Long-term care settings for care-dependent older adults have been disproportionately affected by repeated outbreaks of COVID-19 among residents and care staff. The aim of the present paper was to assess the delivery of daily and the access to professional oral care in long-term care facilities during COVID-19 as experienced by the care staff.

Data were collected in December 2020 by an online self-administered questionnaire for care home staff in Flanders and descriptive analysis were performed. The study was approved by the ethics committee of Ghent University Hospital (B.U.N.: B6702020000715).

The response rate at care home level was 8% and the study sample consisted of 95 staff members from 66 care homes. Oral healthcare was considered as important or even more important since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Nevertheless, 41.2% of the participants suggested daily oral care was left behind more often compared to other aspects of basic care. Natural teeth of residents and removable dentures were mostly brushed once a day but for care home staff who were not directly involved in the provision of daily oral care, the uncertainty around brushing frequency increased during the pandemic. A considerable part of the respondents (35.7%) were faced with urgent unmet oral care needs of residents.

Experiences of care home staff suggest that COVID-19 might have negatively affected the delivery of daily and access to professional oral care. However, the low response rate, the possible response bias due to the overrepresentation of care staff implementing an oral care programme, and the lack of observational data to confirm the survey responses require careful interpretation of the results. Yet, an improved response at the level of oral care is needed during future health crises affecting this setting.