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Prior research has highlighted important healthcare access and utilization issues among new forced immigrants. We aimed to explore the role that public and patient involvement (PPI) might play in enhancing accessibility and specific contributions to migration health studies. We conducted open and in-depth interactive virtual discussions with asylum seekers and refugees from Eritrea and Syria in Switzerland. The PPI establishment consisted of three phases: inception, training and contribution. Prior to training, the concept of PPI was not straightforward to grasp, as it was a new approach-however, after training and consecutive discussions, participants were ardent to engage actively. We conclude that PPI holds promise in regard to raising awareness, improving healthcare system accessibilities and utilization, and enhancing and strengthening migration health research. Indeed, PPI volunteers were keen to raise their community's awareness through their networks and bridge an important gap between researchers and the public.

Oral healthcare among the frail is an underestimated geriatric care element. While neglected oral health (OH) is a well-established risk factor for frailty, frailty can be a risk factor for subsequent OH problems. The cross-sectional investigation nested into the SAPALDIA sub-cohort of citizens aged 52 years and older, aims to stimulate longitudinal research into aspects that accelerate poor OH among frail individuals. The hypothesis investigated was that (pre-) frail individuals are more likely to have missing teeth replaced with removable dental prostheses (RDP) resulting in difficulties with chewing. The study included 1489 participants undergoing geriatric assessments and oral examination. The main predictor was frailty status (non-frail; pre-frail; frail), based on Fried's frailty phenotype. The main outcomes of interest were non-functional dentition (presence of ≤ 19 natural teeth), presence of any RDP and self-reported difficulties with chewing. Pre-frailty and frailty were not associated with the presence of ≤ 19 natural teeth, but were associated with a higher RDP prevalence. The presence of at least one complete denture (CD) had 1.71 fold and 2.54 folds higher odds among pre-frail and frail, respectively, compared to non-frail individuals. Frail individuals with CD reported chewing difficulties 7.8 times more often than non-frail individuals without CD. The results are in line with the hypothesis that (pre-) frail individuals may be more likely to have tooth loss restored by RDPs. Future longitudinal research needs to assess potential barriers to oral hygiene and fixed dental prostheses among (pre-) frail and to study their oral health-related quality of life., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright 2024 SWISS DENTAL JOURNAL SSO – Science and Clinical Topics. License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.)