Primary Health Care and Oral Health Promotion Among the Aged

Introduction: 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. Objective: 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', ‘Primary health care', and ‘Dental care for aged' to search articles (n = 91) in the 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 perform the statistical analyses. Results: The articles were published from 1978 to 2007, and 69% were published in English. Among other studied categories, 11.2% articles described the necessity of including Primary Health Care in the Dentistry graduation syllabus, 31.8% related to primary-care sectional programs, and 9.8% 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.