Does anyone care about oral care?

What we don’t do is look at the conditions of the people we expect to provide oral care for dependent adults. The certified nursing assistant is often the person in charge of taking care of the oral condition of the dependent adults and if care facility. They have undergone a mere twelve weeks of training. Almost 30 minutes of that training is devoted to oral care. The instruction is often unrealistic, based on recommendations for ambulatory people full mental and physical capacity. The reality for the CNA is residents who cannot or will not sit passively as oral care is provided for them. Residents are often combative or resistant to attempts at oral care. Asking residents to sit still during brushing and flossing is often far too much to ask. It is far too much to ask of the resident, and far too much to ask of the CNA who is providing that care.

From our perspective a patient sits in our dental chair and complies with our every wish. At least for the time they are in the chair. For CNA, dealing with a resident is very much like dealing with a fully grown, 140-pound 3-year-old. Mentally they are unprepared for someone else providing them with oral care. They may hold their lips tightly together, they may turn their face away, they may even turn their face away until the caregiver is close enough and then they quickly turn back and bite the caregiver. This is quite common in long-term care facilities. It is almost unheard of in private practice. Certainly not by adults.

If CNA have hands on application to providing oral care, it is often done with other students in the class. This produces a problem. Students of the same age, often find this to be a hysterical exercise. The complications that present themselves in a true to life situation are almost never provided in this type of clinical setting. The lesson is lost in these young students.

The condition the mouth of someone who resides in a long-term care facility regardless of their age, very rarely resembles that of a twenty year old young woman. Often the teeth are broken, discolored, misaligned and most certainly covered with material alba from the Jurassic era. Studies show us that CNA are very happy with peri care and numerous other activities that are repulsive to most oral Healthcare providers. They often leave oral care to the very end of their shift, when too often they’ve run out of time in the day. That is the reality of the CNA.

The training of the CNA also leaves something to be desired. Their text books are written by nurses, even in the section on oral care. It is not common for a dentist or dental hygienist to be consulted for that section of the textbook. Terms are outmoded, and the instruction is not realistic for care in dependent adult populations. Only mechanical removal of biofilm is addressed. The most important aspect of oral care, reduction of biofilm, is almost never addressed.

I cannot call mechanical removal of biofilm will never go away. Brushing and flossing are always going to be important. However, continually stressing mechanical biofilm removal over the more likely biofilm reduction has made it nearly impossible for the CNA to even hear more about it. As tired we are of instructing on mechanical biofilm removal, they are of hearing it. With the advent of over-the-counter and professional products, biofilm reduction will be easier to achieve and all of us will be happier.

Who is Taking Care of the Dependent Patient’s Oral Health Every Day? Join us to find out!

On www.DTStudyClub.com, you will find the three-part Webinar series “Simple Advanced Treatment Modalities for the Dependent Patient” with Angie Stone and Shirley Gutkowski.

Part I: Who is Taking Care of the Dependent Patient Every Day?

Are you sick and tired of nursing assistants avoiding their duty to provide oral care to dependent adults? Find out how much you have in common with them! Angie Stone and Shirley Gutkowski bring their exciting tag team program to the Web in this first of three programs. They bring their no nonsense and humorous approach to build the bridges between “Us” and “Them.” Don’t miss this informative, scientific and entertaining program.

Part I of this series will educate the attendees regarding who is actually responsible for oral care in nursing home facilities. Attendees will learn what a typical day is like in the life of a nursing assistant, what education they have been provided and what their position is regarding oral care.

Learning Objectives:
• Understand the true daily work of the nursing assistant
• Know what education the nursing assistant has
• Understand who the nursing assistant is

Part II: The Dental Profession Can Assist Primary Caregivers Help Dependent Patients

Can’t get the nursing assistants to brush and floss the dependent adults they’re in charge of? Never fear, Shirley Gutkowski and Angie Stone show you how to make an impression on care-givers that will stimulate change by shifting your own thinking. Humorous and entertaining, you won’t be disappointed in quality and content of this important Web program.

Part II of this three part module will concentrate on what dental professionals should be teaching during the nursing home staff required annual in-service training session. Think you should be teaching brushing and flossing? Join us to find out!

Learning Objectives:
• Gain knowledge on how to develop an in-service training session
• Know what simple advanced treatment modalities improve the oral health of nursing home residents
• Understand the role Xylitol plays in oral health improvement

Part III: How to Implement Your Own Training Program Through the Adopt A Nursing Home Initiative

The alphabet soup of titles can be daunting to the oral care provider trying to bring the message of simple novel approaches to oral care in a facility. Angie Stone and Shirley Gutkowski, bring their hard earned knowledge and first-hand experience to this one-hour Web event. The third in the three part series on oral care for the dependent adult is just as entertaining as the first two. It covers who is working at the care facility, who to talk to, and when to call. Don’t miss this important information and round out your new perspective on care-givers and dependent adults.

Part III of this three-part module provides information on how to find a home to adopt. Discussions include: who are the main players in the nursing home environment that need to be contacted, what should be said when contacting the facility, as well as complete information regarding AANH.

Learning Objectives:
• Know who to contact at a facility to Adopt the nursing home
• Understand what to say to the facility administrators
• Know what the mission and goals are of AANH

Take advantage of this opportunity to earn 3 C.E. credits by logging onto www.DTStudyClub.com, Online Courses to register. Attendees will have access to the archived presentation for 30 days. All three Webinars are offered for US$95.