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Move of Adults with Mental Retardation from Institutions to Community-based Living: Changes in the Oral Microbiological Flora

Samariterhemmet Hospital Dental Clinic, Public Dental Health Services, Dragarbrunnsg 70, S-751 25 Uppsala, Sweden, pia.gabre{at}samarit.ftv.lul.se

M. Wikström

Department of Oral Microbiology, Faculty of Odontology, Goteborg University, Sweden

T. Martinsson

Department of Oral Diagnostics, School of Dentistry, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

L. Gahnberg

Department of Preventive Dentistry, Public Dental Health Services, Uppsala County Council, Sweden

In the Western world, the policy of de-institutionalization and integration of individuals with mental retardation is generally accepted. We tested the hypothesis that de-institutionalization may lead to changes of habits with a potential to influence oral health. When 57 adults with mental retardation moved from an institution to community-based living, their oral hygiene habits, gingival bleeding, and a three-day food record were registered one month before and 9 and 21 months after the move. Mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in saliva, P. intermedia/P. nigrescens, P. gingivalis, and A. actinomycetemcomitans in supragingival plaque, and C. albicans on mucous membranes were analyzed. After 21 months of community-based living, fewer persons showed high classes of mutans streptococci, growth of P. intermedia/P. nigrescens, and high frequency of sucrose intake, and more subjects showed growth of C. albicans. In a short perspective, the indicators of oral diseases suggest an unchanged or lower risk of oral diseases after the de-institutionalization of individuals with moderate or severe mental retardation.

Key Words: de-institutionalization • mental retardation • oral health • microbiology

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 80, No. 2, 421-426 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/00220345010800020401


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