A quick survey

Help make residents' oral health checks easier

Working in aged care, you're expected to look after residents' oral health and spot when something is wrong. You're not a dentist. A resident may be in dental pain and have no easy way to tell you.

I'm Brayden, a dentist in NSW. I'm developing Smile Advisor to make oral health checks simpler, more consistent and easier to document. Before it goes any further I want to understand what makes this part of the job hard, and what would genuinely make it easier.

This takes about 4 minutes. I don't ask for your name or your facility, and please leave individual residents' details out of the written answers. Responses are stored securely in Australia and reported only in aggregate: never by person or facility, and never to an employer. If you're open to a follow-up chat, you can leave your details at the last question. That's the only place you'd identify yourself. Full details: thesmileadvisor.com/privacy

At the end I'll ask if you want to see what I'm building. That part's optional and takes about 3 more minutes.

This is not a test of your dental knowledge. There are no wrong answers, and honest beats polished.

About you

What's your role? Required

Registered or Enrolled Nurse (RN / EN) Personal Care Worker / AIN / PCA Care Team Leader / Clinical Care Coordinator Facility, Care or General Manager I don't currently work in residential aged care

How long have you worked in aged care? Optional

Under 1 year 1-3 years 3-10 years 10+ years

Where's your facility? Optional

NSW: Central Coast or Hunter Elsewhere in NSW Another state or territory

Compared with residents' other care needs, where does oral health sit? Optional

Near the top Above the middle Below the middle Near the bottom

How oral care is seen

A few questions people usually think twice about. Nobody can be identified from these answers, and nothing here goes to an employer. Answer for how it goes on the floor generally.

Where you work, who is responsible for residents' oral health? Optional

Everyone on the shift, it's part of care Whoever does their personal care The RN or team leader The family, or their dentist Nobody really owns it

When it comes to oral care, which best describes the expectation where you work? Optional

Take the time and do it properly Do the best you can in the time available Get it done quickly and move on There's no real expectation

On a busy shift, how often do you think oral care gets signed off when it hasn't really been done? Optional

(Everyone who's worked a short-staffed shift has a view on this.)

Never Now and then Fairly often Most shifts

If a box gets ticked for oral care that didn't actually happen, how do you see it? Optional

It's never okay I get why it happens, but it's not okay It's just the reality of a busy shift It doesn't bother me

How oral care goes on your floor

Overall, how would you rate your residents' oral health? Optional

Excellent Good Fair Poor

On a typical shift, roughly how many of the residents who need help with oral care actually get it? Optional

More than 90% 50 to 90% 10 to 50% Less than 10%

If a resident wears dentures, could you tell from their notes? Optional

Yes, it's recorded Sometimes You'd have to ask someone who knows them We often don't know at all

Spotting problems

When did you last have any training or a refresher on oral care, including how to spot problems? Optional

In the last year 1-3 years ago Longer ago than that Never had any

How confident do you feel spotting early dental problems (decay, gum disease, infection) when you look in a resident's mouth? Optional

Very confident Fairly confident Not very confident Not confident at all

Oral care at your facility

Overall, how would you rate your residents' oral health? Optional

Excellent Good Fair Poor

On a typical shift, roughly how many of the residents who need help with oral care actually get it? Optional

More than 90% 50 to 90% 10 to 50% Less than 10%

If a resident wears dentures, could you tell from their notes? Optional

Yes, it's recorded Sometimes You'd have to ask someone who knows them We often don't know at all

In a typical week, how much of your time goes on dental: chasing appointments, transport, families, paperwork? Optional

None, it rarely comes up Under an hour 1 to 3 hours More than 3 hours

Families and paying

Roughly what share of your residents have a family member actively involved in care decisions? Optional

Most of them Around half Fewer than half Very few

When a resident needs dental treatment, who usually pays? Optional

The resident or their family The facility Public dental or a government scheme It usually just doesn't get treated

How residents actually get seen

After admission, how often does a resident's mouth or teeth actually get assessed? Optional

Every 6 months or more often About once a year Only when there's a problem Never

When a resident's mouth or teeth get assessed, who usually does it? Optional

An RN or EN A PCW, AIN or PCA A visiting dentist or oral health therapist No one really does assessments here

Roughly what share of your residents have seen any dental clinician in the last 12 months? Optional

Over 75% 25 to 75% Under 25% I couldn't say

Of the residents referred to a dentist in the last year, how many actually ended up treated? Optional

Nearly all About half Fewer than that I couldn't say

Your facility, from your seat

Is your role at one facility, or across several? Optional

One facility Several facilities (regional, quality or executive role)

How many residents are you responsible for? Optional

Under 50 50 to 100 100 to 200 More than 200

Overall, how would you rate your residents' oral health? Optional

Excellent Good Fair Poor

On a typical shift, roughly how many of the residents who need help with oral care actually get it? Optional

More than 90% 50 to 90% 10 to 50% Less than 10%

Could you show it?

If you needed to know today which residents have had no recorded oral care in the last 6 months (no cleans, no checks, no dental visits), could you pull that up? Optional

Yes, straight from our system We could piece it together from notes, slowly No, we couldn't I couldn't say

If the Commission asked tomorrow for one resident's oral care records for the last month, could you provide them? Optional

Yes, easily Yes, with some digging Some of it would be missing No

Since the strengthened Standards, has anything actually changed about how oral care runs at your facility? Optional

Yes, new processes are in place We reviewed it but changed little No change yet I couldn't say

Getting residents to a dentist

Roughly what share of your residents have seen any dental clinician in the last 12 months? Optional

Over 75% 25 to 75% Under 25% I couldn't say

In the last 12 months, how many residents went out to a dental clinic? Optional

Your systems

Does your facility have a policy that lets staff photograph residents for care reasons? Optional

Yes, an established policy It happens, but there's no formal policy No, photos aren't allowed I couldn't say

Phones, tablets and photos

Do you have a device in your facility, like a shared tablet or phone, with a camera staff could use? Optional

Yes Yes, but the cameras are unreliable No Not sure

Does your facility already take photos of residents for care reasons, like wounds or skin? Optional

Yes, that's normal here Sometimes No Not sure

What gets in the way

What gets in the way of residents' oral care? Optional

Tick all that apply

Not enough time in the shift Residents declining or resisting care Dementia or behaviour that makes it hard Not enough training in how to do oral care (brushing, dentures) No clear pathway once a problem is found

Other:

What gets in the way of residents' oral care? Optional

Tick all that apply

Getting a dentist to come to us Getting residents out to an appointment Families not deciding, or not paying Nothing gets flagged until it's already bad Floor staff don't have the time

Other:

What gets in the way of residents' oral care? Optional

Tick all that apply

No dentist will service us The cost, with no budget line for it Families not deciding, or not paying We can't see what's actually happening on the floor Not enough staff to do it properly

Other:

What would actually help

If your facility brought in outside help with residents' oral care, which ONE of these would matter most to you? Optional

It takes under 5 minutes per resident A dental clinician makes the call, not software Clear advice on what to do next Management giving us the time to do it

Other:

If your facility brought in outside help with residents' oral care, which ONE of these would matter most to you? Optional

It takes under 5 minutes per resident A dental clinician makes the call, not software We stop chasing appointments and transport Evidence ready for care plans and audits

Other:

If your facility brought in outside help with residents' oral care, which ONE of these would matter most to you? Optional

Residents get seen without leaving the building We can evidence oral care for the Commission It costs less than the dental problems we deal with now It doesn't add to what staff already do

Other:

If you could add one thing to help with residents' oral care, what would it be? Optional

(Anything at all. It doesn't have to be something you've seen before.)

Wrapping up

Anything else you'd like to say? Optional

Suggestions, frustrations, ideas. Whatever's on your mind.

Would you be open to a 5-10 minute chat about your experience? It's a research chat. There's nothing to buy. Optional

Yes, happy to chat No thanks

That's the survey done

Thank you. That's the part I can't get from anywhere else, and it's genuinely useful exactly as it is.

If you've got another 3 minutes, I'd like to show you what I'm building and hear what you make of it. Be blunt about it. A straight "that wouldn't work here" helps me more than a polite yes.

If now isn't the time, finishing here is completely fine.

Here's the idea I'm exploring. I'd love your honest reaction.

Picture this at your facility:

A visiting Smile Advisor team member sees your residents every few months. They use our system to capture images of their teeth for our AHPRA-registered dental team to review. They'll also be able to do an in-person dental training session with your team.

The review is then used to build a daily dental care card for each resident:

who has dentures, and a photo to compare if dentures ever get mixed up

High, Moderate or Low risk for dental disease

what toothpaste to use

care instructions

and a recommendation on when to see a dental clinician

Between our team's visits, the app supports your day to day:

a quick button to log each resident's clean, or advise it was declined

short videos to help with ongoing care

send a single photo any time something looks wrong or a resident is in pain

Picture this at your facility:

A visiting Smile Advisor team member sees your residents every few months. They use our system to capture images of their teeth for our AHPRA-registered dental team to review. They'll also be able to do an in-person dental training session with your team.

The review is then used to build a daily dental care card for each resident:

who has dentures, and a photo to compare if dentures ever get mixed up

High, Moderate or Low risk for dental disease

what toothpaste to use

care instructions

and a recommendation on when to see a dental clinician

Between our team's visits, the app supports your day to day:

a quick button to log each resident's clean, or advise it was declined

short videos to help with ongoing care

send a single photo any time something looks wrong or a resident is in pain

For you as coordinator, it also gives you:

a quick clean tracker, so you know who was able to have a clean and who wasn't

a list of residents needing to see a dentist

dental information captured when a new resident moves in: dentures, risks and care needs known from day one

reduced liability: dentures are tracked, dental issues are picked up and documented early, and referral recommendations are provided early

What's your first reaction, doubts included? Optional

(Be blunt. This is the most useful answer on the form.)

Here's the idea I'm exploring. I'd love your honest reaction.

Picture this at your facility:

A visiting Smile Advisor team member sees your residents every few months. They use our system to capture images of their teeth for our AHPRA-registered dental team to review. They'll also be able to do an in-person dental training session with your team.

For you and your leadership team, it provides:

an overview of the oral health status of all residents, and how the daily cleaning is being performed throughout the facility

how many training days have been run with our Smile Advisor team

reduced liability: dentures are tracked, dental issues are picked up and documented early, and referral recommendations are provided early

every screening, clean and documented decline in an audit trail mapped to Quality Standard 5

What's your first reaction, doubts included? Optional

(Be blunt. This is the most useful answer on the form.)

Usefulness rating

How useful would that be in your facility? Required

Very useful Somewhat useful Not very useful Not useful at all I'd need to see it working to say

Add this, drop that

What's missing? If we added one thing to that, what would it be? Optional

(Whatever would make it actually work at your place.)

What would you drop, or change? Optional

(Anything in there you wouldn't use, or that wouldn't work the way it's described.)

Rank the pieces

Same idea, broken into pieces. Pick the three that would matter most at your facility, in order.

How it could run

If this ran at your facility, which would work better on the floor? Optional

Our own team takes the photos during care, with the app guiding us A visiting Smile Advisor team member does every resident every few months A mix: the Smile Advisor team member does the rounds, we photograph anything that hurts between visits Honestly, neither would get done

Two ways this could run. Which is your facility more likely to pay for? Optional

The app on its own, our staff do the scans A Smile Advisor team member visiting every 3 to 6 months to scan every resident and denture and train the team, at a higher price Only whichever costs less We wouldn't pay for either

If you brought in oral health tracking and screening, which budget would it realistically come from? Optional

The compliance or quality budget Allied health or lifestyle services A new line we'd have to create There's no budget for something like this

This one's for people working in residential aged care right now. Thanks all the same.

Thank you. Every response shapes what gets built, and what doesn't.
If you left your details, I'll be in touch within a week or two.

Curious what the screening looks like? thesmileadvisor.com
Know someone else in aged care? Share this survey: [survey URL]

Brayden Weber, dentist, NSW

Help make residents' oral health checks easier

About you

How oral care is seen

How oral care goes on your floor

Spotting problems

Oral care at your facility

Families and paying

How residents actually get seen

Your facility, from your seat

Could you show it?

Getting residents to a dentist

Your systems

Phones, tablets and photos

What gets in the way

What would actually help

Wrapping up

That's the survey done

Here's the idea I'm exploring. I'd love your honest reaction.

Here's the idea I'm exploring. I'd love your honest reaction.

Usefulness rating

Add this, drop that

Rank the pieces

How it could run

Interested in this for your facility?