Preventive care at home
For someone who cannot easily get treatment, the cheapest dentistry is the kind that stops the problem starting.
Most dental disease in older and dependent people is preventable, and most of it is caused by two things: medicines that dry the mouth, and brushing that has quietly become somebody else's job. Preventive care at home deals with both.
It is practical rather than clinical — high-fluoride toothpaste where it is needed, a dry-mouth plan, denture hygiene that actually happens, and ten minutes showing a daughter or a care assistant how to brush someone else's teeth without a fight.
Who this is for
- People on multiple medications, where dry mouth is driving decay
- Anyone who depends on someone else for brushing
- Nursing and residential home residents, as part of a home's mouth-care policy
- Patients recovering from a stroke, surgery or a long illness
What happens on the visit
Find the risk
What is causing the trouble — dry mouth, sugar in medicines or supplements, a denture worn at night, a toothbrush that nobody can reach the back teeth with.
Treat what prevents
Fluoride varnish, a prescription for high-fluoride toothpaste, dry-mouth products, a scale and polish where the gums need it. Small, quick, and it changes the next year.
Show, not tell
We coach whoever helps day to day — a family member or care staff — on positioning, brush choice, denture cleaning and what to look for. Written instructions stay in the home.
Set the interval
A review date matched to the risk: three months for someone with a dry mouth and many teeth, longer for someone stable.
Afterwards
We ask carers to phone if brushing becomes a struggle or a sore area appears, rather than waiting for the review. Most preventable problems announce themselves weeks in advance.
Cost and cover
A scale and polish is subsidised under PRSI and covered for many medical card holders under the DTSS. Fluoride and coaching are part of the visit. See what a visit costs and every way it can be paid for.
Questions families ask about this
If your question is not answered here, please give us a call — it is quicker than a form.
What is the single most useful thing a family can do?
Get the dentures out at night and use a high-fluoride toothpaste on any natural teeth. Those two habits prevent more problems than anything we can do on a visit.
My mother refuses to let anyone brush her teeth. What then?
This is common, especially with dementia, and there are techniques that help — timing, positioning, a second brush to hold, a wipe rather than a brush on bad days. We show carers what works, and we do not judge anyone for finding it hard.
Do you train care-home staff?
Yes. A short staff session — positioning, denture care and what to report — is part of how we work with homes.
Arrange a visit
Tell us who the patient is and where they are, and we will phone you back the same working day with what a visit would involve and what it is likely to cost.