Failure to Ensure Dental Evaluations for Two Residents
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that residents received necessary dental services, resulting in two residents not being evaluated by a dentist after admission. One resident was admitted with multiple diagnoses including a history of TIA, CHF, diabetes mellitus, dementia, and depression. Her care plan, initiated several months after admission, identified that she exhibited or was at risk for oral health or dental care problems due to multiple missing teeth. During an interview and observation, this resident reported she had not been to a dentist since admission, had several missing teeth, and stated that a broken tooth was bothering her, which she had reported to several staff members without resulting in a dental appointment. Her EHR showed only a single dental appointment dated several months after admission, with no further documentation of dental evaluations. Another resident, admitted with type 2 diabetes mellitus, acute CHF, and NSTEMI, stated during interview that she needed to go to the dentist and was observed to have a missing front tooth. Review of her EHR revealed no documentation that she had been evaluated by a dentist since admission. In an interview, the facility Scheduler confirmed that both residents had not been seen by a dentist since admission, despite her stated expectation that all residents have an annual dental appointment. She acknowledged that she attempts to keep up with scheduling annual dental visits for all residents and had missed scheduling for these two residents.
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