Oral Health Standards in Long Term Care Facilities
Due to an overall increase in life expectancy, seniors presently represent one of the fastest growing groups of Canadians. The overall increasing proportion of seniors along with their considerably higher rate of dental diseases and need for dental services, the presence of barriers to dental care access in addition to the increasingly limited government funding, justify the concerns about access and delivery of dental health services for seniors, particularly those in long-term care (LTC) facilities.
There is general consensus that most people living in long-term facilities are already medically compromised and that new methodologies and standards of oral care must be developed for people with co-morbidities.