RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes in the oral healthcare of adults with learning disability after transference from long stay hospital care to community-based care. SUBJECTS: Adults with learning disability who were former residents of a single long stay hospital and who had been resettled into the community during the period April 1995 to April 1998. DESIGN: Structured questionnaire with a covering letter sent to community-based carers. Hospital notes were reviewed to assess oral healthcare received as in-patients. RESULTS: There was a 68% response rate to the questionnaire from community-based carers with details obtained from 106 out of a possible 157 subjects. As residents in the hospital, all subjects were examined regularly by a dentist--yearly for edentulous and six-monthly for dentate individuals. However, attendance patterns were less regular as residents in the community. In the community, individuals were also less likely to receive operative dental treatment. Although oral hygiene regimes were generally on a daily basis only 37% of the subjects and/or their carers had received oral health education from dental professionals in the community. CONCLUSION: Changes from institutional living to community-based housing for adults with learning disability may be associated with changes in dental attendance and treatment patterns.
Asunto(s)
Desinstitucionalización , Atención Dental para la Persona con Discapacidad , Discapacidades para el Aprendizaje , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Citas y Horarios , Atención Dental para la Persona con Discapacidad/clasificación , Atención Dental para la Persona con Discapacidad/estadística & datos numéricos , Profilaxis Dental , Operatoria Dental , Inglaterra , Femenino , Conductas Relacionadas con la Salud , Educación en Salud Dental , Hospitales Especializados , Humanos , Londres , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Higiene Bucal , Instituciones Residenciales , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The incidence of angular cheilitis (angular stomatitis, perleche, commissural fissures) appears to be increased in people with Down syndrome (DS). Lip fissures are also (in our clinical impression) a fairly regular feature, yet this is scarcely mentioned in the literature. OBJECTIVES: To establish the incidence of angular cheilitis and lip fissures in a substantial group of patients with DS and to examine the relationship with Candida albicans. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The prevalence of orofacial soft tissue lesions was investigated in a group of 77 DS patients. Swabs were taken from lip lesions, palate and tongue and inoculated on Sabouraud's agar discs for the isolation of C. albicans, identified with commercially available kits. RESULTS: Lip fissures were seen in at least one-quarter of DS patients. Angular cheilitis was also found in a similar percentage. CONCLUSIONS: C. albicans was isolated from a substantial proportion of lesions tested, and was present more frequently than in those without lip lesions, but it is uncertain whether this represents cause or effect.