Abstract
Aims: Motor Neuron Disease (MND) is a progressive neurodegenerative neuromuscular disease, which can progressively impair arm-hand function. Needs and barriers of MND patients and their caregivers in performing oral hygiene were studied. Methods: An online survey was sent to 706 MND patients. The questions of the survey included self-reliance, self-reported oral health, and oral hygiene. The oral health-related quality of life (GOHAI-NL) and the subjective well-being (ALSAQ-5) were also measured. Results: A total of 259 patients responded (36.7%), of which 71.9% stated not to be informed about the importance of maintaining good oral health by their MND treatment team. Moreover, 40.4% would like to receive help concerning oral hygiene from a dental professional. 19.8% were not satisfied about oral care as conducted by themselves or their caregivers. Patients who do not ask for support with their daily oral care had a significantly worse oral health-related quality of life compared to patients who do ask for support. Conclusions: The support for daily oral hygiene of MND patients and their barriers to requesting support needs more attention from both MND-treatment teams and general dental professionals.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 9-14 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Special Care in Dentistry |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 26 Jul 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors are grateful to all patients and caregivers who participated in this study, to the ALS Patients Connected patient association (APC), and to H. Vergunst-Bosch and Prof. Dr. J.H. Veldink from the ALS Centre, Netherlands for their cooperation in approaching their members.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Special Care in Dentistry published by Special Care Dentistry Association and Wiley Periodicals LLC
Funding
The authors are grateful to all patients and caregivers who participated in this study, to the ALS Patients Connected patient association (APC), and to H. Vergunst-Bosch and Prof. Dr. J.H. Veldink from the ALS Centre, Netherlands for their cooperation in approaching their members.