Oral health education interventions may improve the oral health status of older people

Abstract

Data sources: PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science.

Study selection: Experimental and quasi-experimental interventional studies.

Data extraction and synthesis: Two authors independently evaluated the included studies using the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) quality assessment tool, and any discrepancies in the scoring of the quality assessment tool were resolved through discussion or by involving a third author. The outcome was descriptive in nature.

Results: Twenty-three studies were included in the review (17 RCTs and 6 quasi-experimental). The studies showed improvement in all areas related to oral health of the older people after implementation of the interventions.

Conclusions: Well-structured oral health educational programs may help improve the oral health of older people. However, more robust evidence is needed in this area.