Introduction
Materials and methods
Study design
Setting and participants
Questionnaire on factors affecting dry mouth
Individual characteristics
Self-perceived oral factors
Oral health self-care behavior
Oral health beliefs
Self-perceived ability to chew food
Statistical analysis
Results
Characteristic |
N
| Percentage |
---|---|---|
Gender
| ||
Male | 59 | 35.8 |
Female | 106 | 64.2 |
Institutions type | ||
Nursing home | 73 | 44.2 |
Senior citizens welfare institutions | 92 | 55.8 |
Age (years)a
| 78.7 ± 10.1 | |
Education level
| ||
Illiterate | 72 | 43.6 |
Elementary school | 57 | 34.5 |
Senior high school or higher | 36 | 21.9 |
Diseasea
| 1.0 ± 1.1 | |
Hypertension | 58 | 35.2 |
Heart disease | 27 | 16.4 |
Stroke | 22 | 13.3 |
Diabetes | 39 | 23.6 |
Renal failure | 4 | 2.4 |
Periodontal disease | 2 | 13.3 |
Tobacco smoking
| ||
No | 159 | 96.4 |
Yes | 6 | 3.6 |
Betel nut chewing
| ||
No | 153 | 92.7 |
Yes, but I have quit | 12 | 7.3 |
Drinking
| ||
No | 161 | 97.6 |
Yes, but I have quit | 4 | 2.4 |
Self-perceived oral factors characteristic
|
N
| Percentage |
Denture wearing | 97 | 58.8 |
Self-perceived dry mouth symptoms | 94 | 20.7 |
Oral bleeding during tooth brushing | 25 | 15.2 |
Feeling soreness and pain in teeth when eating cold and hot foods | 32 | 19.4 |
Feeling difficulty in chewing during food ingestion | 36 | 21.8 |
Self-perceived bad breath | 31 | 18.8 |
Missing teeth | 94 | 57.0 |
Prosthodontic may easily become loose | 7 | 4.2 |
Loose teeth | 16 | 9.7 |
Fever within the last 3 months | 7 | 4.2 |
Oral health self-care behavior characteristic
| Mean ± SD | |
Regular oral examinations | 0.4 ± 0.9 | |
Brushing teeth and gargling after waking in the morning | 4.3 ± 1.5 | |
Brushing teeth after meals | 2.1 ± 1.6 | |
Gargling after meals | 3.3 ± 1.9 | |
Brushing teeth and gargling before sleep at night | 3.3 ± 1.9 | |
Brushing teeth after eating anything | 2.2 ± 1.7 | |
Gargling after eating anything | 3.1 ± 1.8 | |
Using floss or floss pick | 1.7 ± 1.4 | |
Oral health beliefs characteristic
| Mean ± SD | |
The current oral condition of the residents is good | 3.2 ± 1.3 | |
It is important to undergo oral examinations semi-annually | 3.5 ± 1.2 | |
Need to undergo aggressive oral cleaning | 3.8 ± 1.1 | |
Oral health of residents is important to their health | 3.7 ± 1.2 |
Characteristic | Mean ± SD |
---|---|
Fruits (non-pickled fruits, overripe/soft fruits, or juice) | |
Sugar cane (not juice) | 5.8 ± 2.5 |
Sliced guava | |
Sliced apple or pear | |
Sliced orange | |
Sliced star fruit or bell fruit | |
Sliced melon or tangerine | |
Sliced watermelon or pineapple | |
Papaya or banana | |
Fresh foods and meats
| |
Squid | 5.3 ± 2.8 |
Soy sauce-braised pork ears | |
Fried chicken leg or chicken fillet | |
Fish (steamed) | |
Cooked vegetables (mainly scrambled or braised food) | |
Stir-fried peanut | 6.8 ± 2.1 |
Boiled bamboo shoots or broccoli | |
Sliced cucumber or kidney bean | |
Water spinach or cabbage | |
Pickled lettuce in soy sauce or pickled cucumber in soy sauce | |
Sliced sweet pepper | |
Steamed sweet potato or taro | |
Overcooked tomato | |
Sticky foods
| |
Malt syrup nougat | 5.6 ± 2.9 |
Mochi | |
Rice cake | |
Rice dumpling |
Factors associated with self-perceived dry mouth
Variable | Odds ratio (95 % CI) |
p value |
---|---|---|
Institutions type
| ||
Nursing homea
| 1 | |
Senior citizens welfare institutions | 3.11 (1.50–6.45) | 0.002 |
Regular oral examinations
| ||
No | 1 | |
Yes | 0.38 (0.15–0.97) | 0.040 |
Denture wearing
| ||
Noa
| 1 | |
Yes | 2.62 (1.28–5.34) | 0.008 |
Ability to chew sticky foods
| ||
Poora
| 1.000 | |
Good | 0.24 (0.12–0.51) | 0.000 |