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HSE National Guideline

HSE National Oral Care Guideline (Supporting Smiles) for Health and Social Care Teams supporting daily oral care for adults who require assistance


Topic: Daily oral care
Document Owner: Assistant National Oral Health Lead
National Group: HSE National Oral Care Guideline (Supporting Smiles) Development Group
Effective From: 13 October 2025
The purpose of the HSE National Oral Care Guideline (Supporting Smiles) is to set out an evidence-informed HSE national guideline for the assessment of oral health and delivery of daily oral care by health and social care teams for all adults (18 years and over) who reside in or attend healthcare
HSE National Oral Care Guideline (Supporting Smiles) for Health and Social Care Teams supporting daily oral care for adults who require assistance
PDF, 2.71MB

The HSE National Oral Care Guideline (Supporting Smiles) facilitates a standardised and consistent approach to the assessment of oral health and delivery of daily oral care by setting out the processes that:

• Ensure consistency in the standard of daily oral care delivered by health and social care teams.

• Assign responsibility, authority, and accountability for daily oral care at all stages.

• Agree appropriate key performance indicators.

• Ensure ongoing monitoring, audit and evaluation necessary to underpin delivery of a quality service across Health Region

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