Effect of Dental Treatment on Activities of Daily Living in the Disabled Elderly

The hypothesis that dental treatment improves the ADL of the disabled elderly was examined by using a prospective intervention study design. We developed a new assessment set for the physical status including ADL, oral health status, and other influential factors, such as the initiation of an intervention involving rehabilitation. Subjects consisted of 70 disabled elderly persons who needed dental treatment: 55 of the subjects were institutionalized and 15 were at home. Subjects were evaluated at the start and end points of the dental treatment and data from before and after dental treatment were compared statistically. After dental treatment many parameters of physical function, including ADL (such as eating, locomotion, getting out of bed and selected FIM total), had improved. These improvements in ADL had no correlation with any other interventions. These results can be explained as follows: Improved oral function after dental treatment enhanced eating function or activities of the disabled, which promoted improvement in ADL and QOL.