Developing an oral assessment and intervention tool for older people: 1.

This is the first in a series of three articles relating to oral care for older people. The first article underlines the importance of oral assessment and evidence-based intervention for older people. It describes influences which can affect older people's ability to maintain oral healthcare practices. There is a need to examine closely issues surrounding poor oral hygiene practices and their associated ramifications for the older person. Identifying and implementing an appropriate oral assessment tool for older people should provide the foundation for the maintenance and improvement of standards of oral care practices within the clinical practice setting. The second article critically analyses oral care interventions; the third article critiques a number of published oral assessment tools with a view to developing and implementing a workable oral assessment tool for the practice setting.