Report of practicing dentists' activities which serve older people residing in Kentucky's nursing homes.

This state-wide study of dental consultants to nursing homes provides a "first ever" profile of this small but important field in dentistry. As the number of older people continues to grow, particularly in the 85+ age group (which is most likely to be housed in nursing home facilities), the dental profession needs to understand and appreciate its professional obligations to this group of "special" patients. While the data is not absolutely clear, it does appear that perhaps 50% of all of the nursing homes in Kentucky do not have regular staff dentists working with them. Surprisingly, no dental hygienists seemed to be working with dentists, even though they could be quite useful for several types of clinical services and could be a big help with family and staff education projects. Nursing home consultants are dedicated individuals in the middle of their careers. Although gerontology in general and nursing home care, in particular, is primarily a women's field, women dentists in Kentucky are not yet very active in this aspect of dental practice. The list of problems and frustrations facing dentists seems long and difficult to resolve. In spite of this, the dentists working with nursing homes have continued their relationship for many years. While some dentists support more than one nursing home facility, the majority of the dental consultants do limit their efforts to a single nursing home.