Effects of an Oral Self-care Program on the Elderly's Xerostomia and Oral Health-related Quality of Life

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate effects of an oral self-care program on oral dryness and oral health related quality of life in the elderly. Methods: The current research design isa nonequivalent control group protest- posttest design with two groups of elders from two different senior centers in D city. Tools for the research include paper of salivary absorption (WF41-1850, Whatman, Germany), 6 items for subjective oral dryness and OHIP-14 for oral health related to quality of life. The data were analyzed to test three hypotheses by using the SPSS 22.0 program. Results: The three hypotheses were significantly accepted. The subjective oral dryness score was lower in the experimental group than in the control group (t=-2.45, p=.022). Salivary absorption was higher in the experimental group than in the control group (t=3.83, p<.001).Oral health related quality of life was better in the experimental group than in the control group (t=-2.11, p=.044). Conclusion: The oral self-care program has appeared to be effective on oral dryness and an oral health related quality of life in the elderly. Therefore, it can be suggested that the oral self-care program is applicable as an intervention program motivating the elderly to maintain oral health.