Oral health program that gives seniors a reason to smile

The University of Newcastle’s Senior Smiles program proves good oral health can deliver multiple benefits.

For over a decade, the university’s Senior Smiles program has helped elderly residents improve their oral health and provided dental practitioners with a proven model of care to follow as an operational model to improve oral health access for residents living in the Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) environment.

The program was created by Professor Janet Wallace, who has spent her professional life demonstrating the connection between oral health and overall well-being and quality of life.

Older adults are particularly vulnerable to poor oral health due to changes in diet, increased medications and reduced ability to care for their personal hygiene needs. Cognitive impairment also impacts negatively on their ability to maintain good oral health, with our older citizens also report that the cost of dental services is a barrier to accessing services.

With the number of people over the age of 65 expected to grow considerably over the next few decades, Senior Smiles targets RACF specifically and is giving residents much more than just quality dental care. The program provides a preventative focus by ensuring residents have an oral health risk assessment upon entering the RACF, individual oral health care plans are developed, oral health education for residents and staff is part of the program and referral pathways to dental practitioners within the local community are created to ensure those barriers in accessing treatment are removed.

The problem

Oral health is fundamental to overall health. Those with poor oral health are more likely to suffer ongoing pain, difficulties swallowing and speaking, disrupted sleep, disrupted work routines, anxiety and depression.

Research has also linked poor oral health to serious medical conditions including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and dementia.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, people between the ages of 55 and 74 have, on average, 22 decayed, missing or filled teeth. The number of affected teeth goes up the older we get.

While allied health services such as podiatry and occupational therapy are provided to Australia’s elderly via Medicare, oral health care is not. This puts our older people at considerable risk for painful and costly health conditions associated with unmanaged oral health issues.

A new model of care

With the goal of creating a scalable and sustainable model of care for residential aged care facilities, Professor Janet Wallace translated her PhD research into practice and created Senior Smiles in 2014.

Since then, the program has trialled in five residential aged care facilities and has four core elements:

• an oral health practitioner who works on-site in the residential aged care facility
• regular oral health risk assessments and care plans
• referral pathways to dentists for more complex needs
• collaboration with the residential aged care staff to enhance oral health skills.

The Senior Smiles pilot was financed through a $100,000 grant from NSW Medicare Local in Erina. The grant covered the cost of having a registered dental hygienist in five residential aged care facilities on the Central Coast.

Following the success of the pilot, Professor Wallace and her team secured a $540,000 grant from the Elderslee Foundation Australia Ltd in 2017 to enhance the program.

Professor Wallace has led the way in highlighting the need for oral health  to be included in the daily cares for all residents in RACF. The Senior Smiles program has provided a proven model of care  with operational guidance that can be adapted in RACF or hospital environment.

Leading the way in oral health

The Senior Smiles program resulted in nine additional residential aged care facilities RACF before Phase 2 of the trial has even been completed.

Under Wallace’s leadership, the University of Newcastle has become an expert in this area of research and education. Other Universities in Australia have adopted the Senior Smiles student placement program and have utilised the resources developed by Professor Wallace.

In addition to setting its sights on expanding the Senior Smiles program, the University has also created a one-of-a-kind Bachelor of Oral Health Therapy, which includes a student placement program involving RACF along the Central Coast.

The students receive real-world learning while providing critical intervention care for residents.

Professor Wallace continues to advocate that oral health care is mandated as part of the accreditation process for residential aged care facilities in Australia to ensure residents receive holistic health care that improves their overall quality of life.

Download the case study (PDF, 700KB)

More information:

Professor Janet Wallace

janet.wallace@newcastle.edu.au

(02) 4349 4564

Older adults are particularly vulnerable to poor oral health due to changes in diet, increased medications and reduced ability to care for their personal hygiene needs.