Educational intervention on oral health in elderly persons from a medical office

Abstract

Introduction: age-related morphological and functional changes that take place in the oral cavity are part of the general aging of the body.

Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on oral health in elderly persons.

Material and methods: a non-observational, quasi-experimental study, before-after without a control group, was carried out through an educational intervention in older adults from March to October 2019, which included 79 patients from the Family Medical Clinic 2 in the Center area from Sancti Spíritus. The variables studied were level of knowledge about oral health, knowledge about the use and care of the prosthesis, attitudes, oral hygiene and practice of oral self-examination.

Results: before the intervention, 53.2 % had an insufficient level of knowledge about oral health, being sufficient in 82.3 % after it. Attitudes were unfavorable in 63.3 % initially, being favorable after the intervention in 92.4 %. Oral hygiene was deficient in 67.1 % and good oral hygiene was achieved after the intervention in 91.1 %; the oral self-examination was not performed by 86.1 %, at the end of the intervention it was performed by 77.2 %. Knowledge about the use and care of the prosthesis was inadequate in 60.8 %, being able to modify it in 87.3 %.

Conclusions: the educational intervention was effective, as it managed to raise the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices of the elderly about oral health.