A pilot study on improving oral care in long-term care settings. Part II: Procedures and outcomes

This pilot study attempts to determine if a program of training for nursing assistants in combination with adjunctive aids to oral care could improve resident oral health indicators. Twelve residents of a county long-term care (LTC) facility cared for by a group of nursing assistants who completed a 6-week oral health training program constituted the experimental group. Resident Plaque Index (PI) and Gingival Index (GI) scores were compared at baseline, and 6 weeks and 12 weeks after nursing assistant training to a matched group of residents (n = 11) cared for by nursing assistants who had not completed oral health training. Both the PI and GI scores of the experimental residents improved significantly compared to the control residents between baseline and 12 weeks (Student t test, p = .039, p = .017, respectively). This pilot study demonstrated improved oral health indexes among residents cared for by trained nursing assistants who had access to adjunctive oral care aids. Additional studies are needed to define the nature of oral caregiving in LTC settings as well as specific regimens which can assure continued oral health improvement in this environment.