subjects with aspiration pneumonia. Due to the presence of in the dentate subject P. gingivalis model, periodontal disease was considered a potential risk factor for aspiration pneumonia. The authors also mentioned xerostomia as a possible risk factor for aspiration pneumonia, as it contributes to the concentration of the number of bacteria per milliliter of saliva. This study concluded that oral health care programs are crucial for a community-living and institutionalized older people, as they may assist in the reduction of aspiration pneumonia incidence. One of the limitations of this study could be the set-up of the model that included edentulous patients. This model could not test the effects of factors associated with having teeth. However, authors further stated that the addition of a dentate model is complementary, since it identified modifiable dental risk factors that the edentulous model could not account for. Some of the results of this study needed further determination, such as the interpretation of the finding that functional units (a pair of teeth that can contact each other in chewing) are a significant risk factor in developing aspiration pneumonia. This study called for further investigations to test for a beneficial effect of oral health care programs in nursing homes. Frenkel19 performed a longitudinal open-ended questionnaire to gather qualitative data from nursing home staff. The study was looking for the attitudes, practices and critical comments concerning oral healthcare in dependent patients. The quality of oral health care provided to nursing home patients usually falls below the standard of care. In 1997, a random sample of 22 nursing homes was taken from the 96 registered with Avon Health Authority. Two hundred twenty seven questionnaires of the 396 that returned were completely or partially answered. Frenkel did not inform the reader if the responses were used from only the completed questionnaires. In total, 95% were returned, but only 57% replied with all or partial questions answered. The questions were designed to be open-ended regarding the views on caregivers’
subjects with aspiration pneumonia. Due to the presence of P. gingivalis in the dentate subject model, periodontal disease was considered a potential risk factor for aspiration pneumonia. The authors also mentioned xerostomia as a possible risk factor for aspiration pneumonia, as it contributes to the concentration of the number of bacteria per milliliter of saliva. This study concluded that oral health care programs are crucial for a community-living and institutionalized older people, as they may assist in the reduction of aspiration pneumonia incidence. One of the limitations of this study could be the set-up of the model that included edentulous patients. This model could not test the effects of factors associated with having teeth. However, authors further stated that the addition of a dentate model is complementary, since it identified modifiable dental risk factors that the edentulous model could not account for. Some of the results of this study needed further determination, such as the interpretation of the finding that functional units (a pair of teeth that can contact each other in chewing) are a significant risk factor in developing aspiration pneumonia. This study called for further investigations to test for a beneficial effect of oral health care programs in nursing homes. Frenkel19 performed a longitudinal open-ended questionnaire to gather qualitative data from nursing home staff. The study was looking for the attitudes, practices and critical comments concerning oral healthcare in dependent patients. The quality of oral health care provided to nursing home patients usually falls below the standard of care. In 1997, a random sample of 22 nursing homes was taken from the 96 registered with Avon Health Authority. Two hundred twenty seven questionnaires of the 396 that returned were completely or partially answered. Frenkel did not inform the reader if the responses were used from only the completed questionnaires. In total, 95% were returned, but only 57% replied with all or partial questions answered. The questions were designed to be open-ended regarding the caregivers’ views on