Oral health measurement in nursing research: state of the science

Abstract

Oral health can impact general health and systemic disease. Changes in dental plaque, oral microbial flora, and local oral immunity may be important in the development or exacerbation of disease in critically ill patients, trauma patients, adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and frail elderly. Inasmuch as oral health potentially can be influenced by nursing interventions, nursing research in this area can contribute greatly to improved patient outcomes in these diverse populations. The authors' research teams have conducted several federally funded projects focused on oral health and have developed synergy in research methods. A unifying theme for these research projects is the measurement of oral health. Standardized measures of components of oral health are available and applicable across populations, and their uses and relationship to nursing research and patient outcomes will be discussed.

Figures

Figure 1. Tooth subdivisions for University of Mississippi Oral Hygiene Index (UM-OHI). Each tooth is divided into five sections for the buccal surface and five sections for the lingual surface. The tooth surface is divided longitudinally into mesial, distal, and middle sections; the middle section is further subdivided horizontally into gingival, middle, and occlusal sections. If dental plaque is present in the section, the section receives a score of 1; if no dental plaque is present, the section receives a 0

SOURCE: Adapted from Silberman and colleagues (1998), Figure 2, with permission from the American Academy of Periodontology and Dr. Stephen L. Silberman.