March 2024: TCAID: In Focus - Optimizing Oral Health: Training and Calibration of the Modified Oral Status Survey Tool
A lack of data about the oral health of people with intellectual disabilities contributes to health disparities, disease burden and often leading to oral disability. Reasons for this arise from systematic exclusion from research, due to issues around training, cost, consent, data collection and a lack of appropriate data collection tools. This has led to a blind spot: a failure to understand the causes and implications of oral disease among the ID population and an inability to improve oral health and oral healthcare policy.
Through collaborative efforts with TCAID and School of dental science Trinity College Dublin, we've developed the Modified Oral Status Survey (MOSST) and training programs tailored to the needs of carrying out oral health assessments on individuals with intellectual disabilities. The MOSST is a data collection tool that collects important data regarding oral health. Content covers concepts relating to oral status and function. The MOSST consists of two elements: Modified Oral Status Survey Tool (MOSST) Health Evaluation Survey and Self Report Supplement (MOSST-SRS). The MOSST can record a range of clinical oral features that are important for policy makers and service providers.
Recently we received funding via the clinical bursary awards for from the RCSI faculty of nursing and midwifery for and an initiative titled: “The implementation of the Modified Oral Status Survey Tool into intellectual disability services to identify the oral health status of people with intellectual disabilities in Ireland”. This training initiative aims to train nurses working in Intellectual disability services in Ireland on using the MOSST. This will empower trained nurses to collect valid and reliable data on oral health and oral health needs within their services. This data will inform local needs assessments for oral health preventive and therapeutic services for people with disabilities.
MOSST Training Day at TCAID
In March, Katrina Byrne (PhD student in the school of dental science & RNID) and Dr Caoimhin Mac Giolla Phadraig, Assistant Professor, led this training initiative with a group of nurses working in Intellectual disability services in Ireland and dental professional on the MOSST. As part of the training, all trainees undertook an element of virtual training by completing the MOSST course on EdApp. In this course the trainees gained an understanding of the concepts in the MOSST: functional tooth units, aesthetics, denture wear, tooth count, cavitated teeth, oral cleanliness, gum condition. Aswell as an understanding on the MOSST SRS which explores oral healthcare utilization, oral health behaviours, homecare and oral health related quality of life.
The training day in TCAID involved a review of the concepts of the MOSST and reviewing questions, practice sessions using the MOSST and calibration of trainees knowledge of the MOSST. We had support and input on the day of teaching assistants who acted as volunteer participants who gave feedback on the trainee’s approach on using he MOSST in practice.
The use of the MOSST in the IDS-TILDA wave 5 health fair showed that nurses and other non-dental professionals and researchers who work closely with people with intellectual disability have the ability once trained to carry out a simple oral assessment with their skillset to implement reasonable adjustments. This training is key in the empowerment of nurses and other frontline clinical professionals with the necessary tools and training. Knowledge sharing on our research methods and training on the MOSST can assist in creating a more inclusive research environment where every individual’s voice, experience and outcome relating to oral health can be explored. Together, we can advocate for policies and practices that prioritize oral health equity for individuals with intellectual disabilities.