Oral health is a key component of quality of life among older adults, yet maintaining preventive dental care becomes increasingly difficult for those with long-term care (LTC) needs. This study examined patterns of preventive and need-driven dental service use among home-dwelling older adults with LTC needs in Japan and identified the caregiving, functional, and socioeconomic factors associated with these patterns. Data were drawn from a nationwide online survey of family caregivers reporting dental service use among older adults certified under the Japanese Long-Term Care Insurance system (n = 1,055).

Poorer financial situations increased the likelihood of a lack of dental visits, whereas need-driven visits were more common among those who received intensive or long-term caregiving and whose caregivers reported a greater burden. Dementia status was not independently associated with dental service use. These findings highlight the importance of promoting preventive dental care within community-based LTC systems, particularly as care needs intensify.

Key Points

Financial strain was linked to having no dental visits

More intensive and longer caregiving, especially with higher caregiver burden, was linked to need-driven dental visits

Dementia status was not independently associated with dental service use

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This work was supported by the Health and Welfare Services for the Elderly Program (Grant Number R6-No. 72) funded by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research JP23K21580 and JP22K10306 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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This study was ethically approved by the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology Institutional Review Board (No. R21-076). This study complied with the Declaration of Helsinki and its amendments or comparable ethical standards for conducting the survey. Informed consent was obtained from all participants via online methods.

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