Among elderly persons living in nursing homes in Sweden, 42 percent have poor oral health. Poor oral health is a suffering for the elderly person and can affect the person's ability to speak, chew and smile but can also lead to poor self-esteem and depression and in worst case critical illness. Therefore, oral health is an area of nursing that must be updated and prioritized. Nurses hold a key position to be able to promote good oral health for older people and could identify oral health problems at an early stage. Therefore, nursing staff need to get knowledge about oral health related to general health. The purpose of the literature review is to shed light on how care staff can improve the oral health of people in nursing homes. The method chosen was a literature review, based on four qualitative, four quantitative and two mixed method studies. Two main categories and six subcategories were created. The two main categories were barriers to good oral health and factors for good oral health and the subcategories describe lack of knowledge among care staff, priorities and attitudes, dislike to oral care as well as interprofessional collaboration, progressive strategies and organizational support. Oral health is neglected due to barriers such as lack of time, high workload, and priorities in nursing homes. For oral health to be improved among people in nursing homes, increased knowledge and cooperation between care staff and dental staff is required.