Dr. Anil Menon is on a mission to improve the oral health of seniors living in long-term care homes – one smile at a time.
“A lot of work needs to be done,” says Menon, an assistant professor of preventive dental science at the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, and Manitoba’s only dental public health specialist.
“We tend to neglect these people who have been silently suffering.”
Menon says systemic barriers contribute to the typically poor oral health of this population. The barriers include inadequate staffing, insufficient training for staff in oral hygiene practices, not enough mobile dental clinics or basic dental setups in long-term care facilities, and not prioritizing oral health as part of each resident’s overall care plan.
He also says financial constraints, reduced mobility and cognitive impairments pose obstacles to seniors obtaining appropriate care in these facilities.
A starting point for improvement could be the screening tool that Menon is developing. He envisions that at personal care homes, it could act as a guide for staff such as aides, nurses and physicians to assess residents’ mouths using photos and descriptions of conditions.
Menon, who is also a researcher with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, joined UM in 2023. Treating seniors at personal care homes in Winnipeg has spurred him to research this population across the province. He is now interviewing seniors and their families.
“Their foremost complaint is the lack of regular, accessible dental care within the facilities. They frequently mention the difficulty of finding dental professionals willing to visit care homes and the financial burden associated with external dental visits.
“Manitoba lags behind provinces like British Columbia and Ontario, which have implemented more robust programs for mobile dental clinics and oral care training for caregivers in long-term care facilities.”
In a recent Frontiers in Oral Health paper, Menon and his team examined the new Canadian Dental Care Plan in relation to seniors. They recommended that the federal government provide on-site dental care at every personal care home. They also called for more pay for dental professionals to compensate them for the challenges of treating seniors in these facilities.
Born and raised in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Menon earned his bachelor of dental surgery in India, his master of business administration in Oklahoma, and his master of science in dental public health at the University of Toronto.
His motivation to become a dental public health specialist, he says, stemmed from witnessing the disparities in access to oral health care among vulnerable people.
“Public health offers an opportunity to address systemic issues and advocate for equitable care,” he says.
In 2022, Menon had a study published in the International Journal of Applied Dental Sciences. It showed that 17 per cent of elderly immigrants in Canada rated their oral health as fair to poor, compared with 10.5 per cent of Canadian-born seniors.
The most notable reasons for the disparity included language barriers, lack of dental insurance coverage, and cultural differences in attitudes toward preventive dental care.
“I hope my research encourages policymakers to take action to meet the needs of this overlooked age group,” he says.
BY MATTHEW KRUCHAK