ELDERLY HEALTH, ORAL HEALTH PROMOTION AND PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS: AN INTEGRATIVE ALLIANCE PROCESS

Abstract

Objective: Primary Health Care is the strategy that developing countries are following to face the new paradigm of oral health promotion. Preventive techniques, oral health education, and self-care empowerment throughout life can be reflected by satisfactory oral health conditions among the aged. The aim of the present study was to evaluate scientific articles related to oral health and primary health care for the aged.

Methods: As a quantitative cross-sectional research approach, following the Integrative Literature Review method, we used the descriptors 'Oral health' and 'Primary health care' to search articles (n = 91) in the Pubmed/Medline and Lilacs databases. An instrument was developed to analyze each article under three sections: paper identification, research design, and subject category. We used STATA software to perfo rm the statistical analyses. Results: The articles were published from 1978 to 2007, and 69% were published in English. Among other studied categories, 7 .8% articles described the necessity of including Primary Health Care in the Dentistry graduation syllabus, 29.4% related to primary-care principles on Dentistry, and 17.6% addressed the political challenges inherent in improving quality of life and oral health among the aged. Conclusion: We concluded that researchers from developing countries need to perform studies and construct partnerships with Primary Health Care services to improve oral health in the aged.