Oral Health for Older People

Oral care is an essential part of nursing care that is sometimes overlooked. Use this Course to refresh your knowledge of why oral care is important and what best practice oral care for older adults involves.

• Oral landmarks, anatomy and function
• Oral disease in older adults
• Maintaining best practice oral care for older adults

Good oral health in older people contributes to a sense of wellbeing; it facilitates better fluid and nutritional intake, assists with communication and has been shown to enhance quality of life. Despite this, the oral health of older people is an often-neglected part of nursing care.

Oral care is sometimes considered less important than other nursing priorities and the quality of oral care being delivered usually depends on the health professional's knowledge of oral hygiene and willingness to attend to this fundamental basic care need.

Health professionals are encouraged to integrate best practice oral care into their routine practice, however in order to do so, they may need to refresh their knowledge of oral hygiene and why it is fundamental to maintaining health and wellbeing.

The purpose of this Course is to ensure that registered nurses and other health professionals maintain best-practice oral care for older adults in all care settings and can identify traditional practice(s) that compromise oral health.

• Explain the importance of good oral care for older people
• Identify common oral problems and their consequences for older people
• Describe best practice with respect to oral care for older people

This Course is designed for registered nurses and other health professionals who care for older people in any setting, particularly residential aged care settings.

No conflict of interest exists for anyone in the position to control content for this activity. Wherever possible, generic or non-proprietary names of medications or products have been used.

Dr John Banky is a dental clinician with more than 40 years of clinical experience in both the private and public sector. He has also published numerous articles on this topic and has delivered presentations to both medical and paramedical audiences about dental presentations of medical conditions. See Educator Profile