Text and photos: Sara Pettersson, Västra Götaland Public Health Service
The Gothenburg dental hygienist program offers theoretical and practical training in geriatric care. På Bettet (Jaw to Jaw), the personnel magazine of the Public Dental Service, dropped in on students while they were performing their first oral health assessments on patients at the Änggårdsbacken assisted living facility.
The facility is practically adjacent to the classrooms at the Public Dental Service in Gothenburg. You can tell that it was built in the early 1900s. Paintings of the vegetable kingdom peer out from the walls and heavy chandeliers dangle from the ceiling. The stone-arched hallways echo with expectation as the students make their way toward their date with the residents.
“This is the chance they have been waiting for to apply some of the theoretical knowledge that they have acquired,” says Erika Palmgren, instructor and clinical supervisor with the dental hygienist program. “This kind of experience also raises their awareness about the role of oral health in the wellbeing of the elderly.”
Ms. Palmgren meets with the students one last time before going to see their new patients. After pairing up, they review the medical histories, lists of medications and various papers that have been filled out in preparation for oral health assessments. Each of them is handed a basket of the materials that they will be needing.
“Go ahead and try out the products so you know what they taste and feel like,” Ms. Palmgren tells them. “That will help you empathize better with the patients.” She passes around a bottle of strawberry flavored moisturizing mouthwash.
The training at Änggårdsbacken is a module of a course entitled “Groups with Special Needs: Oral Health Care for the Elderly in Assisted Living,” which is part of the three-year program. The course addresses disease, medication and other factors that affect the oral health of elderly people.
Evert Larsson is 85 years old and has lived at Änggårdsbacken for the past four months. Classical music is booming out of a miniature stereo when Connie Cheng and Rana Wehbe knock on his door.
Mr. Larsson is lying in bed. “Come in, come in, I’m almost ready, it just takes a while to get up,” he says, pushing a button that raises the front of his bed. He tells the students that he had many cavities when he was younger but that he has been doing better in recent years. The students give him thumbs up after completing their assessment.
“The young women who stopped by thought that my teeth were in good shape,” Mr. Larsson reports. “But they taught me that I should be using a soft toothbrush—that had never occurred to me before. I guess it’s time to turn over a new leaf.”
After Ms. Cheng and Ms. Wehbe leave, he lowers the bed back down again. They are pleased as punch by the success of the visit. But things don’t always go so smoothly—the oral health of other patients poses greater challenges.
Hind Hadi and Bana Tagarani come back an hour later after having seen three patients. “I’m exhausted,” Mr. Hadi says, “this is emotionally taxing. The first visit really rattled me—the patient had dementia, was very stubborn and refused to let us do an assessment. Fortunately, the other two went a lot better.”
The students will be making weekly follow-up visits over the next five weeks. After six months, they will see the patients once more for evaluation purposes.
“This module is important, given that we do not ordinarily see elderly or sick patients,” Sara Ljungberg says. “If we want to do the best job possible, we need to be more familiar with elderly people and the circumstances in which they find themselves. The more we can learn at Änggårdsbacken, the better off we will be.”