The impact of professional oral health care on the oral health of older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis

In recent years, Professional Oral Health Care (POHC) has received serious attention for improving Oral Health Indicators (OHIs) in older people. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate the impact of POHC on the oral health of older people through a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing studies and evidence.

Published articles until August 1, 2023, were searched in databases such as Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science. Manual searches on Google Scholar, reference checks, citation checks, and gray literature were also conducted. Stata software was utilized for meta-analysis using a random-effects model.

Out of 488 studies reviewed, 13 articles were included. All studies were conducted in high-income countries, with 11 studies conducted in elderly care centers. The status of dental plaque, oral health, and mucosal plaque in the POHC group was significantly better compared to the control group. The average dental plaque index score was significantly better than before the intervention. Despite improvement in both groups, the tongue coating index did not show statistically significant improvement. Results of other unaudited indicators also indicated a significantly better status in the intervention group than in the control group.

Although the results of the current study demonstrated the high effectiveness of professional oral health care, improving almost all OHIs in older people, further well-established studies in this field are still needed.