Dental Hygiene Education for Nursing Staff

The aim of this study was to describe a new dental hygiene education program for nursing staff and to report experiences from the program at a nursing home in Stockholm, Sweden (2006). This strategy comprises 3 steps. The first is individual instruction for nursing staff about oral care for patients and hands-on training in toothbrushing technique using an electric toothbrush. The second step was small discussion groups of 4 to 8 nursing staff, led by a dental hygienist and a psychologist. The third step was a theoretical lecture focusing on the associations among dental hygiene, oral health, and general health among the elderly. During the dental hygiene education program, a negative attitude toward oral care was noted among members of the nursing staff, although they did consider oral care important for their patients. Increased self-confidence of staff in providing oral care was noted after completing the dental hygiene education program. Nursing staff members stated that they had received more detailed knowledge about oral care during the program. This dental hygiene education program appears to result in increased knowledge and interest in oral hygiene tasks among the nursing staff and may lead to improved dental hygiene among nursing home residents.