Ruolo dell'igienista dentale nelle residenze sanitarie per anziani

Dental hygienist becomes integral part of numerous operating protocols, which are actuated to codify and improve clinical activity and scientific research of University Hospital. A purpose of dental hygienist is carrying out with dentistry personnel a succession of specific preventive-therapeutic programs, devoted to different kinds of patients, improving conditions of mouth and organism health of these ones. One of these protocols is that applied to dental treatment and prevention of old patients resident in Don Gnocchi Foundation, Palazzolo Institute. This Institute, share of University Hospital of Monza and Brianza, houses inside 822 old people, with average age of 89, who join the current study from November 2006. At first personnel checks autonomy levels and cooperation for all the patients and at the same time they notices conditions of oral health, with possible presence of removable prosthesis, partial or total and also levels of plaque, blood index and parodontal probing. Every day Hygienist shows all the patients how to carry out personal hygienÈs and their own prosthesis cleaning's manoeuvres. He executes directly these ones on patients partially cooperating or absolutely not cooperating. After these surveys staff picks up same data and levels of prosthesis cleaning. In the end of protocol (6 months) the same personnel carries out for the second time all the surveys and compares those with previous ones. All the surveys show improvements in prosthesis cleaning, blood index and plaque levels. There isn't any effectiveness in this operative protocol without hygiene and prevention activities done by dental hygienist in OPHR with cooperation of other medical specialists.