การสำรวจความจำเป็นของอุปกรณ์และเวชภัณฑ์ทางทันตกรรมสำหรับทันตบุคลากรในการดูแลช่องปากผู้สูงอายุภาวะพึ่งพิง โดยการเยี่ยมบ้าน ในจังหวัดพิษณุโลก ประเทศไทย

Abstract

Dependent older adults suffer from a variety of oral health issues and receive limited care. There is a shortage of information regarding the availability of dental healthcare staff, and financial resources to conduct home visits. The objectives of this study was to determine the oral health care supplies required by the dental health team conducting home visits to dependent older people. The samples were drawn from dental practitioners who are working in a government hospital in Phitsanulok province by a purposive sampling method. The data collection tool was a self-administered questionnaire which was constructed and tested for content validity and reliability. The questionnaire was divided into 3 sections: participant characteristics (through a checklist); the need for dental service and equipment and supplies (by a 5-point Likert scale); and recommendation. Data were collected in October 2020. The results were expressed as a percentage and as a mean+SD value. A total of 68 dentists, 60 dental therapists, and 35 dental public health practitioners took part in this study. They were all aged 34.60+9.24 years, 47.3% worked in community hospitals and 12.27% had gerodontology training. 71.8% of participants conducted home visits, with 41.1% doing so on a monthly basis, and they were accompanied by an average of 5-6 multidiscipline officers. The necessary oral health care equipment and supplies that were strongly agreed upon by participants were: general/assessment kit (which consists surgical mask, examination gloves, torch, plane mouth mirror, alcohol gel/spray, infectious waste bag, face shield, explorer, oral care plan, sphygmomanometer, gauze/cotton pellet, and oral lesion assessment); oral hygiene instruction kit (which consists toothbrush, toothpaste with fluoride, brush for denture, oral hygiene instruction media, and denture cleaning instruction media); and tooth extraction kit (which consists gauze/cotton pellet, extraction forceps, dental cartridge syringe, disposable needle, anesthetic cartridge, and elevator). These were all used for necessary dental services, as strongly agreed by participants, such as oral hygiene instruction (4.73+0.53), oral assessment (4.65+0.56), and oral health education (4.59+0.66). The most necessary dependent older adults' oral problem was poor oral hygiene (4.72+0.49). This study primarily evaluated normative needs, future studies should focus on the felt needs as well to develop guidelines for dental services provided via home visits. Additionally, institutions should support dental health teams in getting adequate knowledge and skills in providing oral health care for dependent older adults.